After months of being FAR too busy to get on the weight maintenance / loss bandwagon, I’ve decided to shed these twenty(ish, maybe a bit less…) pounds I’ve slowly added back on due to bad eating, no exercise, and indulgences like enjoying wine with friends on the weekends (which I know causes this body to pack on the weight like crazy).

And, as usual, I’ve got a timeline in mind… (to get rid of most of the weight, not all of it, obviously) – In just over a month, I’m heading to San Francisco for fun and work, and I’d like to be able to fit back into all my clothes that are currently a little too tight to feel comfortable in.

So – The easiest way is to finally use the Visalus “Body by Vi” Transformation Kit that I ordered for Barry months ago, but he never ended up using. My second cousin sells it, and I’m sure she’d be horrified to know it’s been sitting collecting dust because I’ve just been too busy to put any effort into myself with all the study of the last several months.

Tomorrow’s the DAY, Melissa! I’ve heard so many awesome things about this product, that I’m really looking forward to seeing how it works for me. It seems like a no-brainer to get in all the nutrition I need, and still not worry about taking time out of my very tight study window I’ve got right now. I don’t know why I waited, actually…

After the jump, I’ve found 100 Blender Shake Recipes to share: (more…)

I’ve gone and done it. I’ve successfully factory-unlocked an iPhone 4S that I paid full price for January 1st. The backstory is that I really, really wanted the iPhone 4S (I had an iPhone 4 that I had upgraded to in July of 2010). But, alas, I got bad information, and sold my 4 thinking I could get a 4S around New Year’s Eve with no hassle. Hell, it had been months since the new model was out. But, I was wrong, and so, I was completely phoneless for two weeks.

I finally got fed up trying to secure one each evening at 9pm (who thought up this stupid freakin’ idea, anyhow? You have to pre-order an iPhone on Apple’s website for pick-up the next day, instead of just walking in the store and getting what they have in stock? Dumb!!) and so, I bought a brand new Fido-locked iPhone 4S from a guy off of Kijiji.

I did my homework, and confirmed the serial number and IMEI was not stolen, and brand new… and it was fine. And, the phone is awesome. Except, I was still paying over $110 a month for my Fido contract that I now have 9 months left on.

Screw that. I’m tired of being over-charged by Fido (err, Rogers?). I tried calling into Fido and letting them know that they had a very dissatisfied client on their hands, and that I was thinking of paying out my contract ($180) and moving to Telus. After speaking with 3 different pleasant, but completely useless retention agents on 3 occasions, I threw up my hands and sought out any BMO employee deals through other wireless companies.

Get this… I just ordered an iPhone 5 from Telus on a three year contract, paying… $40.50 for triple the airtime (600 minutes total daytime), all voicemail and text, call waiting, etc… AND long distance Canada-wide (to any number, as long as it’s within my plan minutes). Oh, and did I mention, I have scaling data to unlimited? For those months I’m not using much (right… like that’ll happen) I have 500 mb included, but it scales upto unlimited in increments for a maximum fee of $30! For LTE! The LTE coverage alone in Calgary is FAR better than that of Fido/Rogers, too!

I’m happy.

In just a few months, the switch fee will pay for itself. And, of course, I already have a buyer for my iPhone 4S that I paid to have carrier unlocked today.

Good riddance, Fido.

YOUR TURN: Have you had it with your wireless carrier? How much are you paying a month?

Last week, I was invited to a Toyota blogger event at Canada Olympic Park (COP) – it was a #ToyotaLove themed morning, based on things you should consider when choosing a vehicle.

Having recently bought a new vehicle myself (and a larger crossover to boot) I was impressed with the thought the organizers put into the presentation. The primary focus based on the family theme, of course, was on the larger vehicles in Toyota’s line-up, from mini-vans (which make all sorts of sense for families) to 8-seater SUVs.

The most important consideration, I thought while hearing the presentation, was consider what you are using a vehicle for, and shop with the accessories (like car seats, and other accessories) WITH you. This made all sorts of sense – and something I wouldn’t have thought of.

During the test-drives, surprisingly, it was Toyota’s largest vehicle shown – the Sequoia – that got my attention. It’s an 8 passenger SUV featuring a 3rd row of seating for those requiring extra towing capacity and more seating than their other models. I really liked the comfort of this SUV, and I really appreciated some of the cooler features like the side-view mirrors which automatically adjust when you put the vehicle into reverse. Granted, for a two-person family such as mine, there’s absolutely no need for the immense amount of space the Sequoia offered, but if I ever needed the 7,400 lb towing ability (double my CUV’s), I would definitely consider this vehicle.

Thanks for the fun morning @ToyotaCanada! I had a great time…

YOUR TURN: Are you shopping for a vehicle? What are you considering?

Don’t mind me… I’m officially in a state of panic, thinking about all the exams I have coming up.

At this point, there is zero room for bad results, as I need all three PFP designation courses behind me by October 23. (I can’t write my CFP exam Dec 1 unless I provide them passing marks for the other exams by Oct 31)

So… Here’s my upcoming exam dates, for everyone playing along at home:

• Sept 17 – PFSA (Personal Financial Services Advice) exam
• Oct 1 – FP1 exam (Financial Planning I) = Certificate in Financial Services achieved
• Oct 23 – FP2 (Financial Planning II) exam
• Nov 12 – AFP1 (Applied Financial Planning I) exam (PFP qualifier)
• Nov 26 – AFP2 (Applied Financial Planning II) exam (written, not multiple choice) = PFP achieved
• Dec 1 – FPE1 exam (**first test of 2 for CFP designation… these can only be written June/Dec!)

If all goes well, I’ll be a PFP designate by December 1st, and a FPSC Registered Candidate for the CFP (which requires one more gruelling exam in June 2013).

Now, how to balance life, work and study? This will be a challenge. Likely? I’ll push aside most personal balance in the short term, knowing that this is now months and not years away to finishing my accreditations.

Phew.

YOUR TURN: What are you looking forward to, coming up? Let me live vicariously through you for a bit!

Good morning kids! How are you this fine morning? Me? I’m excited!

Today is Apple launch day, and for a tech geek like me, it’s just like Christmas morning!! My husband thinks I’m weird, and that’s okay. I own that… I’m from Vancouver, after-all – Where everyone will be breathlessly gathered around computer screens reading live-blogs about the Apple event, while waiting for the much-anticipated launch of the new iPhone.

I personally have a theory… I don’t think that the 5 in the shadow is for “iPhone 5″ – I think they’ll be naming the new iPhone… wait for it… the NEW IPHONE. (I think this naming convention is stupid, but they must have this grand plan for how they are naming future products. Can you imagine the next iPhone name? The new, new iPhone? Or, the old one, the iPhone formerly known as the new iPhone? LOL.) Anyhow, I digress.

The number 5 in the shadow, in my opinion, represents 5 product announcements. Okay, call me crazy… but, with all the hype over the new smaller iPad coming out, and a new iPod, and even an interactive Apple TV, and so on – wouldn’t it make sense to surprise people with a large roll-out that is unexpected? Isn’t that what Apple is known for? Let’s face it – Apple has never given people the name of the products they were releasing in the past, so this would be a real departure if they started now.

But we’ll see in a few hours! (9am PT)

Here’s the link to the live blog coverage by Gizmodo.

Click here for the CNET Live Stream (Not sure if it’ll work or not).

YOUR TURN: Do you think I’m off my rocker (in more ways than one? heheh) What do you predict? Are you looking forward to the launch?

Wooohooo!!! It’s Friday!

Although it’s been a good week, with two of my workdays spent in a seminar (I love learning about stuff I’m passionate about), and a short work week to boot, it’s been a hectic week nonetheless. So, when four o’clock rolls around, and I’m stepping into a jam-packed Ctrain, I need tunes to put a smile on my face. Once those beats hit my ears, all the smell, overcrowding, and social dysfunction drop away… and life is GOOD.

For me, it’s an eclectic mix of Electronica, Folk-Reggae, some old-school beats, and even a few country songs which really make the transition from work-Tanya to woohoo-it’s-the-weekend-Tanya a quick one.

For example, today, I listened to the Sheepdogs, Dobb and Dumela (you probably haven’t heard of them, but they’re SO FUN!!), Four Seasons, New Order, and Brooks and Dunn on the way home.

I’m ready for an awesome weekend…

YOUR TURN: What’s some of your favourite tunes to get you going for the weekend?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about social connections – and how bad I’ve become at reaching out to people.

I used to be the person that picked up the phone and called my friends just to see how they are doing, but these days, life seems to be crazy, and it’s a struggle even to answer the phone during my off-hours.

This seems to be a theme with everyone these days, though. With the advent of texting, and social media sites, we don’t see the value in actually reaching out, one-on-one, to talk to the people that are important to us. At least, that’s been my perception.

So, for the next month, I’m going to make an effort to change this. I will not only catch up on all the calls to friends and family that I should have made long ago, but I’ll also make it a priority to pick up the phone when someone puts out the effort to call me. Let’s see if that helps me feel more connected?

YOUR TURN: Are you having this issue with the phone, or is it just me?

Hey folks! It’s back-to-school time, already! Don’t forget to enter in the contest at the bottom of this entry!

So, it was timely that London Drugs asked me to feature some back-to-school technology, which is right up my alley as you know! When I told Barry what I was up to after work today, he was only half-kidding when he said that this was a very dangerous blog post and review. Hey… I only spent… Oh never mind. LOL!

Paul, the extremely knowledgeable Computer Manager at London Drugs at 130th, kindly gave me an in-depth tour of the toy (ahem…) computer department. I haven’t spent much time recently in that section of London Drugs as I usually do, so it was a nice change of pace hearing about all the latest gadgets for school and work.

We started the tour in the computer bags and knapsacks section – Wow, have things changed since I went to school. The latest in bags are designed with technology and gadgets in mind, and some even have built-in rain/snow covers! Great idea!

Next up, let’s bring note-taking and drawing to a whole new level, with the aPen! If you can make it out in the photo, it takes your handwriting and drawings and automatically digitizes them (including parlaying the handwriting into text!) on the fly. It uses just regular paper and ink, too! So cool! I had to take one of those home, of course! Also in that arena was a nifty pen that records speech and time-stamps it, while you are writing. I can see that this would be great for lawyers, or even financial planners / investment advisors.

We went on to look at the Mac gear – The new Macbook Air is lightening fast, with all solid state parts, and wow, have these ever come down in price in the last few years. The retina display model is gorgeous…

But, let’s not forget some of the other PC-based Ultranotebook alternatives to the Macbook Air. Ultranotebooks are like really thin laptops and are close to tablet weight, and some of them have touchscreens in addition to keyboards and touchpads. So, if you need the portability of an iPad with the power and keyboard of a notebook, your solution is an Ultranotebook. I saw an Asus model that looked like brushed metal, and a 1080p display that would rival the retina display. Extremely cool!

And, we browsed the latest in iPads and other tablet devices – London Drugs has a wide variety of models and operating systems, with prices as low as $279 for an alternative to the iPad (the Blackberry Playbook), or even $149 for an Efun Nextbook which has a lot to offer for such a small price. Of course, all the iPads, and their accessories like cases, keyboards, and even an awesome array of stylus’ can be found in the department as well. I had to come home with a JotPro stylus, because I’ve been craving the ability to write on my iPad, and that model is very cool with a precision disc that acts like your finger, except it lets you see exactly where your mark will be made, with ball-point pen accuracy.

I was amazed at the pricing of the USB keys these days, too! London Drugs had a 16gb USB 2.0 key for only $8.99! Wowzers! Have those prices ever come down. It wasn’t even two years ago that I paid 10x that for an 8gb model. That’s progress!

And finally… software! The computer department has a vast array of software needed for the students, and plenty of options for student and teacher licenses for Microsoft software. The last item I bought, since I’m a qualifying student at the moment, was a Microsoft Office Student and Teacher suite, as Barry has lost his software license in our move. What an awesome discount buying this way!

So now, how about A CONTEST?

Paul passed along a digital creativity suite to give away… So, if you would like to win a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, and some other cool graphic design software in this package, drop me a comment and tell me why you’d like it! You’ll get a bonus entry if you click here and re-tweet this contest on Twitter (I’m @netchick, of course!) – I’ll be randomly drawing an entry on Saturday, Sept 1 at 6pm MDT. GOOD LUCK!

Thank-you, London Drugs, for the gift I received for blogging about something I so thoroughly enjoy!

UPDATE: Winner drawn! Congrats Jen – I’ve emailed you for your address at the email address you provided! Thanks everyone for participating! There’s another contest coming up soon!