Monday Thoughts: What is Your "All?"

As a twenty-something mom, I always run into the debate of "women having it all." The debacle is so all over the place with women trying to be atop of the career ladder, moms defending their parenting choices, and of course women criticizing women. Basically, it's all a bunch of pressure for a word that is the most subjective of words.

What is all? For some, all might be handling career and home at the best of their capabilities. For others, all may be staying at home with their kids even if it means sacrificing a little bit of the extras. All might be maintaing good health. All could be just getting through the day.

You get the gist. Having it all means something different for every woman.

What baffles me even more than its definition is why the heck are we all up in each other's business and why do we need to confine success or ambition? Of course, the answer isn't so simple; often, this debate comes out of concern for things bigger than ourselves.

However, as for everyday pressures and woman-to-woman criticism and gossip, let it be simple.

Live from a place of kindness and honesty. Do what makes you and your loved ones happy. Wish well for others. Give it your all - whatever that may be.

What does all mean to you? 

Bordeaux Love

All the things I love about fall - leather jackets, boots, bordeaux, and berets - came together for this outfit for the second last day of World MasterCard Fashion Week. Honestly, it's been an amazing week and I'm already excited for next season! 

Photo taken by my new fashion week friend, Kaylee! 

Make sure to check out her blog called The Blondielocks!

The Coat Hunt

When we moved this summer, in the midst of the whole packing ordeal, I seized the opportunity to toss out all of my coats. Every single one donated with a smile on my face - not just because it feels good to give to others or purge clutter, but because it meant new coats for the coming cold season. And let me tell you: coats, jackets, blazers... they are my thing. In fact, they are the only reason I can barely deal with frigid weather.

As Toronto's World MasterCard Fashion Week commences this Monday (which I will be excitedly covering for Acid City Magazine), the coat hunt is on! I frantically ransacked visited the mall yesterday and with one step into Zara I knew I'd gone into coat heaven.

Shortly after, in my mind, it became battle of the cape I can't live without versus the round-shouldered jacket that would probably only keep me warm for a minimum of two more weeks versus the over-sized coat that I would gladly let swallow my 5'2" body. Of course, I couldn't take them all. I didn't even buy one because what was lacking was the dusty pink coat I was there for in the first place.

Topshop had a decent pink coat - a little on the fuzzy side - and H&M had a gorgeous checked coat, but no pink to be found. Although, I did a happy dance when I saw a faux fur coat for $40... until I tried it on. The whole look just said mom-gone-grizzly. In the fitting room with the bear coat on, I attempted to smile - you know, to see if it would make it a little bit better - but I remained a bear twice my width, chipmunk smile included.

Hence, the coat hunt continues. And I kind of need to get it going! My tush is going to freeze this week, especially since I am already going to be sacrificing my feet for some for some open-toed heels! Over-sized pink coat, where are you?!

What are you on the hunt for this fall/winter? Tell me in the comments below!

Photos via Zara.

Hair Chameleon

{My newest hair color!}

Just a few weeks ago, I was crazy about my blonde hair. I gushed, "I LOVE this color! Never going to change it!" Let's just say I was in over my hair.

When I decided to take the bleach blonde plunge, I totally did one of these: "Psh! Bleach my whole head? No biggie! Black roots coming in? I can handle that! Purple shampoo? It can't be that hard! Fried ends? It's only hair!"

As you can already tell, it turns out that blonde hair meant high maintenance (seriously, where was my light bulb? Common sense, Diana! Common sense!)

Back track to this Saturday. My uber talented sister-in-law-to-be touched up my roots with some bleach. After washing out the bleach, we attempted to tone the roots with an ashy shade to counteract the warmth. We pulled the toner towards my ends to make it blend nicely. My porous hair took the toner SO quickly and I got a seriously ashy, nearly green outcome. Because the color was even, I thought it would be an easy fix - add more warmth and get back to my beautiful blonde.

So, there I was at Sally's on Sunday - ashy hair and all. The lady there told me to go with a gold-based dye to warm up my color. I went home, tried it, and it didn't do much but make my roots ginger hot. Blorange roots and ashy ends... I was ecstatic. 

While letting my hair chill out for a few days - and also staying shy from the rest of the world (who would really want to show off the colorful mess I had going on?) - I dissected browsed the internet for more solutions. I also found myself on tons of fashion blogs and websites checking out what people wore to fashion week and this season's trends. 

And a new hair craving began. Yes, every so often I get a craving/itch for a new color. The thought process goes something like this: "Ou! Loving that pleated skirt for fall. A pumpkin spice latte in hand? I can't wait until the leaves change colors. How gorgeous would rich chocolate locks look against a fall palette? I must be a brunette... ASAP!"

This brunette conclusion came just in time. I was having a hair crisis and autumn was rolling in. Four boxes of level 5 golden brown dye later and I am back to my brunette self. I love how changing hair colors can make you feel like a whole new person. That's probably why I've been a hair chameleon since the ripe age of 12 - playing hair dress up whenever my moods or the seasons change.

My point? Autumn, I'm officially ready for you! Don't worry, blonde, we'll meet again someday.

{My changing hair colors in the past year}

Are you a hair chameleon too? What's your go-to hair color for this autumn? 

Tell me in the comments below!

Why Life is Worth Capturing

When my parents had me, they didn't pick my name simply because they liked it. In fact, they were planning on naming me Morgan (sorry to all the Morgans out there, but that name is not my cup of tea). At the last minute, after a bit of begging from my Nonna, they named me after my Auntie Diana - my dad's older sister who had passed away at the age of 25 from a rare hereditary disease called porphyria. Fast-forward 21 years and I'm glad to say I love my name - both for its meaning and just because it's sweet to my ears.

Moving on, my aunt lived in a time when it wasn't so common for people to chase around their kids with a video camera. Sure, her pictures still exist, but we don't have any videos of her. My dad, who was a teenager when his sister died, of course tries to keep his memory of her alive yet feels so frustrated that he can no longer remember her voice. He says it would be the greatest thing if someone could just find a video of her because he wants to hear her voice again. I can only imagine how that would feel - for one sound to spark years of memories.

Unfortunately, we can't bank on our brains forever - eventually we do forget even if we don't want to. And I wish that I could magically make a video of my Auntie Diana appear. It would mean so much to my Nonna, dad, and Aunt Louisa (my Auntie Diana's twin). 

And here I am in 2013. I own several cameras, a computer with a camera, and a cell phone with a camera yet I don't have enough videos of Carter. I have thousands and thousands of photos of my little boy, but not enough videos. So, I'm learning from my Auntie Diana's life and I'm going to start to vlog a little bit more often. 

I love Carter's voice, giggles, silly sayings. I love watching his mannerisms, the way he draws on his chalkboard, how he smiles from the top of the slide to make sure I'm watching. All these things I'd love to record, remember, and share with others - maybe even pass it down a few generations. 

Little pieces of myself and Kyle I wouldn't mind recording and sharing too. I can just imagine us watching old home videos and laughing at ourselves saying, "those were some good times in our twenties." Oh, the things I would do to keep Kyle's smile and the sound of his laughter fresh in my mind. 

You see, these things are so important. It's so easy to let them pass everyday feeling a little bit too sure that tomorrow will come. Don't take it for granted. Life is beautiful - it's worth living and it's worth capturing. 

I'll make sure to share our family's vlogs here on my blog. You can also find them on my YouTube channel. Check out our first "daily vlog" below. 

Goodbye Summer

Here I am. Sitting on my bed past midnight and it's officially September 1st. I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to summer. Rather than ending it off with a fun day at a beach or carnival, I ended it off with a shopping trip. That's okay though. We had a pretty awesome, low-key summer - just enjoying each other's company, barbecuing like there is no such thing as tomorrow, and taking our first camping trip as a family.

I'm now looking forward to cool breezes, falling leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, lots of red lipstick, and over-sized knit sweaters. There's something about a new season that makes me super inspired too. New goals and perspectives, Carter's third autumn, more room to grow, a different palette of colors.

Anyways, I guess what I'm trying to say is Goodbye Summer 2013. You've treated us well.

How was your summer? Tell me about it in the comments below!

No Mirror Makeup Challenge

This week, I did the No Mirror Makeup Challenge! I had been wanting to do it for a while and finally got to it. How do you think I did?