TGC update

Good Morning friends! 

Well will you look at that?! This picture is from our local newspaper! We were featured in the 'New Ventures' section! Which was pretty exciting. I've never had my face in a newspaper so, I think that was pretty neat! 

It wasn't a whole news article or anything just a little blurb about our business and you know what, that's okay with me! Just the fact that we're getting some media attention, is allowing us to get some exposure. I know that we've got a great thing going and I am so excited for this year. 

It's stressful and there are so many ups and downs but I truly believe it'll all be worth it. If there is one thing that I have learned it's that nothing comes easy in life, you've gotta work for everything that you want. My mom and Dad have taught me that to persevere you cannot sit back and expect things to come to you, you need to get out there and get it yourself. 

That's exactly what we're going to do. 

You can check out the full blurb HERE!

Have a happy hump day friends! I know that mine is starting off right!

xo

total honest tuesday

So, I've decided to jump on the #totalhonesttuesday bandwagon. 

I think that it is such an amazing idea, a lot of times on instagram and blogs you only see the side of peoples lives that are done up, planned, photographed and re-photographed. Having a hashtag that allows a little bit of honesty once a week is pretty neat, if you ask me. 

This photo was taken last Wednesday. A lot of good things happened that day, Brent and I got photographed for a news paper article (yay!!) and we went to ikea (double yay!!). But my mood was having NO part of it. I was in the worst mood all day, I mean I was crying for no reason, I felt like I had a weight on my chest and my anxiety was just sky rocketing. 

It's funny how it just hits me sometimes for no reason. No matter how much I tried to smile and pretend it was gone it was sitting there whispering in my ear, making me feel worse and worse as the day went on. 

When I was in my mood Brent sat down with me and hugged me and told me he understood how I felt and that he had felt the same way a few days before too. As soon as he said that I said, "you were as sad as I am? That's soo sad" and then went on to cry because I knew how upset I was and I hated that he had felt that way too. He looked at me and literally laughed so hard. I was just a bit of a sloppy & crazy mess! 

The photo above was taken about half an hour after my little melt down. I look perfectly decent, not upset at all. It just goes to show you that a picture is one thing and how someones reality could be completely different. 

I am happy to report though that I have been feeling back to my happy and normal self! It was just a day where I had to let all the feels out and now I feel much better :) 

I hope that you have a wonderful week friends and if you're having a rough day, it's okay! Let it all out, give yourself the day to feel sorry for yourself but the next morning pick yourself up and tell your brain that you've got this! You're stronger than you think! 

xo

Motivation Monday

Good morning my pretties! 

I had a very indulging weekend and absolutely no regrets. I am a strong believer in balance. It's the only way that I can stay sane. As much as I love my healthy and organic foods, I also enjoy a night of drinking and some pizza.

I don't drink as often as I used to because my liver just can't handle it anymore and honestly thats totally okay with me, I don't need to drink to have fun.

 I am proud that I have come as far as I have though, this time last year I was starting the BBG journey. I have only ever gotten to week 8 of the guides but even though I have yet to finish the full 12 weeks, I am so proud of my progress. I find that over the last year I have grown to love myself and my body more and I am so proud at how strong I have become. Even though I haven't finished the program I have been consistent with my workouts and my upper body strength is finally decent. 

 Before the holidays I was on week 7 but then I went to Florida and didn't really do the guide workouts there, when I got back I decided that since the Kayla movement was starting on the 11th I would restart the whole guides again and finally finish it. I'm finding that living healthy has become easier and my cravings for pizza have really gone down substantially. I look forward to workouts instead of dreading them and I'm finally looking in the mirror and seeing a body that makes me happy.

It's a work in progress but I am very proud of myself and for the first time I am SO motivated to finish these 12 weeks and prove to myself that I can do this!

These are my two go to meals, for breakfast I love me my rye toast with peanut butter and banana and for lunch or dinner I'll eat a salad with some pasta and veggies. 

They're both easy and effortless meals to make and they've become staples to my diet! 

It's kind of sad that the weekend is already over, it always feels like it just goes way too fast! But Brent and I have some exciting appointments this weekend for TGC and I'm really looking forward to how the week plays out! 

I hope that you all have a happy Monday! 

xo 

Food Diary // Raspberry Lemon water

   

Okay friends, I am back to drinking a crap ton of water! It's been hard for me lately because my excuse was that I didn't have a decent water bottle, my old one broke and I hadn't had the chance to buy a new one so my water intake fell immensely! On the weekend Brent bought me the cutest water bottle and I can proudly say that I have reached my water take every day that I've had this adorable water bottle! 

This recipe is so easy, literally like stupid easy. All you need is some lemon, raspberry AND water! Woahhhhh mind blowing eh? Throw in as much of each ingredient as you'd like, throw er' in the fridge for a few hours or overnight and voila! You've got yourself a healthy and flavourful bottle of water! 

Lemon water is super beneficial for your health! It helps aid digestion, it's anti-inflammatory, cleanses  your system, keeps your skin blemish-free (HELL YA!), gives your immune system a healthy boost and the list just goes on! 

So drink up my pretties! Let's make our insides as pretty as our outsides. 

                                     

Namaste bitches.

xo

it's official

Yesterday, I got one of the most exciting letters I have ever gotten in my life! 

Inside this envelope is a piece of paper that tells me that I am officially a Portuguese citizen. 

This. is. so. freaking. exciting!!!!! 

It has only taken me 24 years to finally get on it but alas, it's finally here! Last November the Portuguese Consulate came to my hometown, so my mom and I went in and signed me up. It literally took five minutes. I don't understand why we waited so long but Brent made it very clear to me that he really wanted me to get the citizenship before we are married. Let me tell you why, Mr. Brent Swance would like to eventually become a Portuguese Citizen as well! You see, once he is married to be for three year he can apply and hopefully be accepted! I am so truly lucky to have someone in my life who loves my culture as much as I do. Next to Canada, Portugal is definitely his favourite country! 

Having this Citizenship means so much to me. I truly feel like all those years in Portuguese school, 12 to be exact, were finally worth it. I can now live in any country in Europe that is a part of the European Union. Being a child of immigrants really does pay off! Ha! 

This little envelope has seriously just made me so happy. I am so so so excited to get married in Portugal and to bring all our friends over to such my beautiful country. 

Although I was born a Canadian, Portuguese blood runs through these veins, I was raised Portuguese and my children will also be raised with all our traditions. It is so important to uphold these traditions, I love that when I go to Portugal I can understand the language, I can speak the language and most importantly when I am walking around the historic city of Lisbon I know it's history. I know where my ancestors came from and that is a beautiful thing! 

So here's to a new year and a new chapter in my life! 

xo 

TGC Update

We have been receiving a lot of amazing pictures from customers who have made their own candles! We are loving how they are getting so creative and having fun! 

A few of our distributors have been having home parties with friends and family members, where they are showing off our products and having them make their very own candles! 

You can colour your candles any way that you want and as you can see above you can put the candles in so many different holders! You can decorate your own or find a nice holder to put it in! The options are endless. 

Every single candle here is contributing to helping our environment, that is 100ml less of used oil going into our oceans, lakes and the garbage. That is one less candle emitting toxic fumes into your home. 

You can personalize The Greatest Candle in any way that you want! You can make it fit your style and personality and have fun in the process! :) 

If you bought our New Pack Candle, you can reuse your glass candle holder to make the two candles that come with it! 

Seeing all of these candles made by people who want to make a change, who want to get creative and who want to have fun makes me so happy inside. We have created an awareness, we are making a small change and this company means more than anything to me. It is my new way of life, my healthy lifestyle. I am truly excited about it and I believe that one day we will be making a big change in the recycling world. 

Have a great Tuesday friends! 

xo 

Motivation Monday

Good Morning my pretties!

I am feeling that my motivation is still going strong. It has taken me a very long time to get here and I am seriously enjoying it. I am finally looking forward to my workouts, I am unconsciously choosing healthier foods over the unhealthy foods and I am putting in a lot of hours to help better my company. Can I also mention, I have been blogging a little more frequently?! Hell ya! 

For today's Motivation Monday, I want you to take a minute and close your eyes. Breathe deeply and tell yourself that you love yourself. That everything is fine, you're doing your best and that is all that matters. Now, take a look at how your week is looking and schedule in your "need to's". I find that when I am looking for motivation if I fill up my calendar with all the things I need to do and when to do them by, I will actually get them done. Now don't go overboard and fill it up with every single detail, you're going to just overwhelm yourself and literally say "F* it" so, start with your small "need to's" and work your way up! 

I find that deadlines are important. As someone who since school (which is almost 5 years ago, SAY WHAT?!!!) hasn't really had a schedule I have found that setting deadlines helps me to not procrastinate. If a deadline is set and I don't reach it, I will give myself a mini punishment lol for example: no netflix for two nights, no alcohol for a weekend, no coffee for a day etc. I will just take away the things I enjoy most for a few days just so that I remember to be productive. 

 I am my own teacher. I truly believe that if you want to be successful you need to work for it. Even when you don't feel like doing it, DO IT. Push yourself to do better, to BE better. Only YOU can make those changes.

It takes time, a lot of practice and patience. But I truly believe in the "fake it till you make it" philosophy. If you pretend like you've got your shit together, you'll eventually have it together. 

Have a great week! 

xo

Friyay

Good Morning! 

Today is kind of just a rambling post! I have a ton of new pictures of candles that people have made this week to post and I am SO excited. I absolutely love when I get these pictures, it's so fun to see others enjoy this as much as I do. 

Anyways, it's finally Friday... about time, am i right? This weekend is filled with meetings and finally finishing up the garage. I don't think that my house can store anymore candles. Not to mention a new shipment will be arriving soon and theres definitely NO way it would fit in the house haha.

I like being busy and getting things done but I am a huge procrastinator. It's terrible. I leave most things until the very last minute and then I finish it all in one night. Since being the owner sometimes gives you leeway of when to get stuff done I tend to leave it until the very last minute (terrible I know) but Brent and I have decided to fix it. Side note: he's just as bad as I am! We are setting up deadlines for all our projects. We MUST get them done by that day. How are we punished if we don't get it done, you ask? Well we are not allowed to buy any sort of alcohol for a week. (it adds up for each project we miss) Ha! We sound like alcoholics but seriously who doesn't enjoy a glass of wine or a beer every once in a while?

Here's hoping that gives us the motivation to get more done. It's hard when we work another job but no time for excuses. I'm excited about this new project!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Friday and a splendid weekend! 

xo 

QOTW

This quote really resonates with me. I have always been afraid to take action because I've felt I was too small and could only do so little. 

Even when I was in my teens I hated the idea of polluting our planet, if my friends ever threw garbage out of the window (which they did) I would get SO upset, if I still see it now, it really pisses me off. You can wait the extra 5-20 minutes to throw it out in the right place. 

We only have one planet, there are millions upon millions of us humans any little movement in trying to conserve our planet helps. That's why starting The Greatest Candle felt like the right step for me. Not only am I trying to create a business for myself but I also get to raise awareness on an environmental issue and help try to diminish it. It's the best of both worlds. I am not saying my candles will help save the planet from the dangers of oil disposal but I truly believe that every candle (made by you or by us) counts. 

Here's some homework, this week why don't you try to place all your garbage and recycling in the right place. Even when it would just be easier to throw out your recycling try to recycle everything that you can. 

Starting small always leads to doing more! It's a one step at a time deal :) 

xo 

Goals

Every year I set resolutions and unfortunately 99% of the time they always fall through. I don't think I'm a failure at all lol I just think that it's human nature to sometimes stray away from it unless you're really set on the changes. In 2015 I had many highs and many lows but I have to say that I was able to end the year on a high note.

This year as you may have read in a post I posted a few days ago that my new word of the year is Productive. So far I have been super productive, my mindset has completely changed and I want to achieve my goals this year. I want to be proud of who I will become and who I am now. So here are a few of the goals that I (and some of them are set for Brent too haha) have set! 

1. Take more pictures - I feel like my picture taking over the years has gone down so much and I absolutely need to treasure these moments of my life. I don't mean staying glued to my phone but to take pictures of the special and sometimes mundane moments in life.

2. Take an hour every day away from my phone - I am on my phone constantly, checking FB, Instagram and twitter. It's not always productive sometimes its mindless looking but I feel like if I give myself an hour a day with no phone, I can take some time to focus on other things. 

3. Post more on the blog- Blogging has always been a love of mine but the fear of what people will think has always kept me back a bit. I have decided to really not give a shit about peoples opinions and write this blog for myself. Some days something useful may be on here and others it could just be nonsense and rambling. It's MY corner of the internet and I want to enjoy it. 

4. Grow The Greatest Candle- We have only just begun this business and I have a HUGE list of goals for this on its own. A little summary of it all is just put my best foot forward and really push to grow this company, to provide environmental awareness and to help change the industry a bit. I honestly think we need more chemical free products in our stores and lives, I am so blessed and lucky that I get to help provide it and help the cause! 

6.  Be Kind to MYSELF- This one is important. Last year, I was so mean to myself, I was just so nasty and looking back I think its so sad. It's crazy what anxiety can do to you, how it can totally shift your mind. I am not useless, I am not ugly and I am worth it. I am a good friend, a good daughter, a good fiance, a good sister and a good business owner. I need to remind myself this every day. 

7. Live well- I feel like I have been on the right track for this for the past few months. I want to continue exercising regularly and eat more vegetables. I want to meditate more and teach myself the importance of a healthy mind. Mental health is so important to me, as someone who can fall down the rabbit whole pretty quickly, I want to really focus on keeping my mind happy and clean. 

8. Care about my appearance- I am someone who really doesn't care about going out in public in sweats, no makeup and hair all greasy. I want to change that. Although, I will never really give up on my sweats and no make up. I still want to make sure I look half decent. Of course when it comes to going out I will always try to look my best, I'm still a girl here ;) 

9. Take care of my body- I mean do more face masks, wash my face every night, lather my body in lotion. Exfoliate my body. Wear more sunscreen. All these things are super important. Because when you feel like you look good, you FEEL good. 

10. Laugh more- As we grow up sometimes it seems like we don't have those belly laughs anymore (unless your dirnking) but I want to laugh more, to live more, to get excited more, to really appreciate this thing that we call life. We only have one life, why not make the best of it?

Well those are 10 of my 2016 goals! I have a million more but these will just have to suffice for now! Do you have any 2016 goals?

xo

Business meetings

On Saturday we had a big business meeting with our sales team. 

Although Brent and I are the owners of the company these people in this photograph are helping us build what will hopefully one day be a well-known brand in Canada. Every single person in this photograph has such amazing plans and dreams for our candle company and we are so beyond lucky and blessed to have them as a part of our team. 

Our meeting was a couple of hours long and there was so much talking about how we can grow The Greatest Candle and how we can change things. It's so fun to have so many ideas out there and having them being bounced off the way we did was great. There were no wrong answers; there was just a group of people envisioning what this could be. 

The Greatest Candle has truly become my passion. I am determined to make it a household name; I want to make a change in the industry. I want to show people how awful the toxins you emit in your home are all the while raising awareness to our oceans and lakes. We only have one planet and I truly believe that we should take care of it. 

I am so excited for 2016! We have many projects coming up and I can't wait to share them with you! 

xo

Motivation Monday

Good morning my pretties!

I had a pretty busy weekend, with work meetings and a baby shower! It's so weird going to a friends baby shower, I mean I can't believe we're all at the age where this is the norm. We grow up so fast, its unbelievable, that being said I am super excited that we are at this stage in life. It's a fun and exciting time! 

Today I want to talk to you about fitness! The picture above is me touching my toes for longer than 10 seconds, for the first time ever. It was a pretty big deal to me. I am in no way flexible but ever since I have started yoga and don't think its been religious because it hasn't. It has taken me over a year to finally enjoy it but since I am enjoying it more, I am noticing that my balance is so much better than it used to be and I'm gaining some flexibility. If there's one thing in life I want it's flexibility, so naturally I'm hooked. I do yoga every other day and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Just looking at this picture gives me so much motivation. I mean LOOK AT IT! I'm touching my fricken toes! Ha! 

Before we left for Florida, I was working on the Bikini Body Guides, I had reached week 7 with some success. I felt stronger, could work out harder and not get exhausted but I wasn't seeing much results.  I had lost weight which I didn't want to, nor do I need to but it always happens when I get active. But despite the weight loss I wasn't noticing the results I was seeing back in June. I guess that would be because I didn't really change my eating habits. 

Don't get me wrong I don't eat junk food everyday but I'm also not reaching the right vegetable quota. Today marks the big Kayla Movement, where literally thousands of BBG girls are starting the guides off for the new year. 

I am joining the movement this year please note that this is NOT a new years resolution, this is a lifestyle change. Since I have already been doing BBG for a while, I want to really commit this time. I want to actually change my lifestyle, be healthier and make better choices. My body and mind craves for it. I have even bought The Skinny Confidential's new book about how to change your lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle, more on this later! 

I am so excited to join the movement and even though it says you can start off at any week (i'd be technically on week 8) I want to start over. Week 1 and this time I will finish week 12. I always seem to get to week 8 and something stops me lol since I have no trips planned in the next 12 weeks I am positive I can FINALLY finish it!

Are you joining the movement?! If you are I want to hear all about it! 

xo 

It's smoothie time

Hey guys, so I've been obsessing over smoothies lately. I'm literally always hungry and since I'm always on the go, I have been turning more and more towards smoothies. They're so good and they help me get way more greens in me because lets me real here, sometimes eating a salad just ain't gonna cut it. 

Here I made a yummy peanut butter banana smoothie! It's super easy to make: 

Couple handfuls of spinach

One whole banana 

1 cup of almond milk 

A tablespoon of peanut butter 

A square piece of dark organic chocolate

and as much ice as you'd like

Blend it all together and voila! You've got yourself a yummy smoothie! I made one today where I added just a little bit of ginger, you could definitely taste it but it wasn't too overwhelming! Word on the street is that ginger helps boost your metabolism, so why not give it a try too?! 

Hope you all have a very lovely weekend! 

xo

Travel diary // Florida

Oh Florida, how I missed thee. 

This year we drove down to Florida, honestly the drive wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. Sure, American drivers don't really know how to use their blinkers... here's a tip: its that little thingy mabob on the left hand side of your steering wheel, it moves up and down to show others that you want to go either left or right! Other than that, it was pretty smooth sailing! Thank goodness, I felt a bit stressed out thinking it would be worse than it was! Maybe we we're just lucky. 

Anyways, we got PERFECT weather all week. I mean seriously, the last two times we have gone to Florida we have been stuck with crap cold and rainy weather! It was 30 degrees the WHOLE week and holy moly was I happy. I have a pretty sick tan and this is an important thing. 

There was a lot of selfies with this guy, I bought an awesome selfie stick at dollarama for $3!!! So we put it to very good use, except for Disney... Did you know that you can't bring them into the parks? Good thing I have long arms ;) 

I got to spend a lot of time with Brents sister and his mom, honestly I am so grateful for being a part of such an amazing family. I love these Swances of mine. 

One last 2015 selfie, of course. For someone who hates pictures I was pretty impressed with how he accepted the fact that he had no choice in the matter. I feel like as the years have gone by the amount of pictures we have taken has gone done substantially, that is a 2016 goal of mine. Take more pictures!! 

The best big sister I could ever ask for. Seriously, hit the jack pot with this one. She laughs AT me all the time but I know that there is pure love there. She is my Nicholas Sparks movie partner, my cuddle buddy and my amazing bridesmaid. 

Ahhhhh, Disney was so great this year! We went on January 1st, what better way to start off the New Year am I right?! We got pretty lucky, both Epcot and Hollywood Studios we're pretty easy to get around, we got on all the rides we wanted too with little to no wait. Once we got to Magic Kingdom, it was all huge lines and too many people. The magic was still there but I think this is our last trip to disney until we have children now! 

Of course we had to ride the Star Wars ride. We watched the movie the night it came out and we loved it! The ride was updated and BB-8 was also included in the fun. It was actually a great ride. 

        

Thanks for the amazing memories Florida, it's been real. We're back in the cold and although I hate it, I am so happy to be home, to be back at work and to be kicking 2016's ass! 

Have a happy Friday friends!

xo 

New Year, New Word

Oh my New Years romanticism has not failed me. This year my new years was super low key. It consisted of a bottle of wine, Brent's family and the countdown on the TV. 

Since we were heading to Disney the next day we didn't want to get too crazy, visiting three parks in one day, being surrounded by people and waiting in lines hungover did not sound appealing to us. 

I have to admit as the countdown began I got those typical butterflies. There is just something so exciting about a new year, it's magical to me. You make resolutions and usually forget about them but thats the magic in it, for those last few seconds of the old year you have a huge hope for the new year.  This year I am determined more than I have ever been, I have finally found a path that was meant for me. I have a sense of direction, I finally know what I want and nothing will stop me from reaching my goals. 

Last years word was "Me" I wanted to focus more on myself and treat myself better than I ever had. To be honest I failed miserably at it. I am my own worst critic, I reached lows that I never knew existed but I came out stronger. Still a little shaken of course but I know that my anxiety is NOT stronger than me and that it's literally all in my head. I have found that, praying yes you read that right praying has helped me. I am not a super religious person but I find that praying to God, the Universe whatever is out there has helped me be grateful for the life that I have. Because in reality, I do have it good, I am worth it and I am loved. 

Anyways, this years word is a bit different. This year I'm choosing the word "productive". That means focusing more on my goals, my work, my life than on Netflix. Last year I swear I spent a record amount watching Netflix and although I am not going to completely stop watching it, I want to watch a lot less of it. I want to have all my daily goals done before I sit down to rot my brain with tv. I want to read more, I want to inspire myself, I want to get creative again and to do that I need to be productive. Basically, quit being so damn lazy. So far so good but hey it's only January 7th, a lot can go wrong from here haha! 

Well here's to a New Year! If you have any resolutions or goals let me hear em'! I love hearing what you guys have in mind! 

xo 

2016

Is it 2016 already?! Yep, it sure is! 

Hello dear friends, 

If anyone is there, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, always apologizing for taking such long breaks from my blog. To be quite honest, I'm not very good at pushing out content all the time, this is clearly a 2016 goal of mine. 

The end of 2015 was super busy, we spent the most of it selling a lot of candles (yay!) Which means that business is going well. VERY slowly but well. 

We had a fabulous christmas with both sides of the family and then we drove down to Florida on Christmas day for a much needed vacation. 

We got back from our trip to Florida on Monday and of course I caught a cold but other than that I am feeling refreshed and ready to work! We have so many new projects coming up and I am so excited to show you them all! 

I hope that you all had a wonderful Holiday season. This year is looking brighter than ever, we have so many exciting events coming up, like our wedding in 6 MONTHS and some incredible projects for The Greatest Candle Canada!

Here's to a New Year, a fresh start and to attaining all our goals!