Author: Jessica Moy

LABADEE, HAITI

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After years of hearing from my mother how amazing cruise life is, I finally bit the bullet and joined her (and some of the fam) on a Royal Caribbean Cruise. Last month we all flew from YYZ to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and boarded one of the world’s biggest ship, Harmony of the Seas! If you love staying in resorts, you’ll equally love being on a cruise ship. It’s not necessarily my style of travel because you are confined to one place for a period of time with a schedule of when and where to eat. But, when it came to eating, I LIVED for the endless amount of American style buffets. Mac & cheese, steak, curry, and brownies all on one plate. All. Damn. Day. After a full cruise day, our first stop was Labadee, Haiti. This northwest corner of the country is leased to Royal Caribbean so it does resemble an amusement park filled with zip lines, water slides, and souvenir vendors galore. The best beach in Labadee (from what I could tell) is Columbus Cove. It is a bit …

LES PANTALONS MODERNITÉS

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Last year I was rushing through Busan Station to catch the KTX train to Seoul. It was early morning on a Saturday and I was on my way to the platform when suddenly, a young Korean lady tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and she kindly blurted, “I’m sorry to bother you but, what is your name?” “Jessica!” I responded with a smile, “what’s yours?” “I’m Rachel” she said shyly. “Umm, I’m a fashion designer, and I know you’re in a rush but I would love for you to model my clothes.” I was in shock, mostly because her English was flawless and that was something I wasn’t normally used to hearing. She mentioned she grew up in Busan, learned English in school, and now studies fashion design in France! I told her that I was actually on my way to Seoul Fashion Week and would love to work with her once I’m back. We exchanged Kakao info before splitting ways. A couple weeks later, Rachel set up a photoshoot at a classy French restaurant in …

I’M OFFICIALLY 28 – HERE’S EVERYTHING I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH THIS YEAR

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It’s six days past my birthday (whoops) but I have to admit, turning 28 was the absolute BEST! Here are a few reasons why my b-day was incredible: It was on a Saturday which means I got to sleep in! When I woke up my mom made a cute little breakfast and even put a candle in my eggs (lol, it’s the little things). I hosted my first Get Up & Go Girl workshop which was such a dream come true. I bid on my first place in Toronto! I lost, but still, it was my first one and I’m moving in the right direction of finding my home. Went out to dinner with my best friends and then to a couple fun bars afterwards. My cousin Melissa baked me raspberry chocolate cupcakes and they were DIVINE! 💋😏 (hehe). As you know, I had goals I wanted to accomplish for my 27th year of life. Let’s see how I did.. 1. Start a career in a creative field I have the best job at rock-it promotions. So …

DR. FORD SPOKE UP TO PROTECT US

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“I will tell you something because I am a sexual assault survivor and the truth is, Trump the other day was speaking in a rally and said, ‘she has no memory of how she got to the party, should we trust she remembers the assault?’ And the answer is, yes. I’ll tell you exactly why. I also know this woman is smart because she’s a psychologist, she’s no dummy. If someone is assaulted or experiences trauma, there’s science and scientific proof, it’s biology that people change, the brain changes and literally what it does is takes the trauma and puts it in a box and files it away and shuts it so that we can survive the pain. It also does a lot of things, it can cause body pain, baseline elevations of anxiety, it can cause complete avoidance to remember or think what had happened to you but what I believe, what I have seen is that what this woman saw that Judge Kavanaugh was going to be possibly put in the highest position of …

10 INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS I LOVE

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Instagram is how I draw inspiration from every aspect of my life. What should I eat? Open Insta. What should I wear? Open Insta. How should I do my makeup tonight? Open Insta. How should I decorate this room? Open Insta. I had a bad day and need to escape. Open Insta. I wanted to break down my favourite Instagram accounts because I spend enough time on the damn app to know what I love, and maybe you’ll like them too? Sharing is caring. Here we go! @laura_made_it Laura makes bad ass art and I’m a huge fan of everything she creates. @society6 Some more art inspo because, I’m obsessed. Artists from around the world can sell their work though Society6 and there are a ton of art and home products (pillows, rugs, shower curtains, etc) that will soon fill my future condo. @wetheurban Social commentary at its best. @patrickta One of my fav makeup artists. He’s so talented and his creations are usually glowy, natural, and goddamn flawless. He’s also just a cool guy too. Be my friend plz, Pat? @streetartglobe I …

SUMMER LIST 2018 | ACCOMPLISHED GOALS

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How is it September already?! Fall is around the corner and on my street the schools (yes, plural) are testing their recess bells so, I guess the deadline has arrived to accomplish my Summer goals for 2018. I kept them short and manageable this year because I knew this Summer I needed to get my shit together, in pretty much all aspects of my life. I still don’t even have my health card back but, I’M WORKING ON IT OK! Living away from Canada for so long leaves you a little behind compared to others but it’s a slow and steady climb. Alright, summer goals, let’s see how I did.. JESSICA’S SUMMER GOALS 2018 1. Learn the flag of every country. Technically I didn’t memorize EVERY flag, but out of 195 country flags I know 173. In my world, that’s a pretty solid amount. To practice I used an app called Name The Flag, which gave me something to do when commuting to and from work. I have a 88.75% success rate so, I’M COUNTING IT! The flags that …

LAVENDER FIELD IN CAMPBELLCROFT, ONTARIO

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A summer goal of mine is crossed off! YUS! My BFF Katie and I went on a mini road trip to Campbellcroft, Ontario which is a small town east of Toronto, sort of near the Peterborough area. Aka, farm town. We went along the cow ridden, dirt roads for one reason – TO FROLIC IN A FIELD FULL OF LAVENDER! I used to despise the smell of lavender, but it’s currently one of my all-time favourite scents. It’s scientifically proven to relax and calm you and is a natural stress relief (I need allllllll of that in my life right now). We ended up going to the Laveanne Lavender Field instead of the one in Milton (Terre Bleu Lavender Field) because.. well.. it was free to enter, compared to $20 (!!) entrance fee at Terre Blue. At 9am we packed the car with snacks, went to Tim’s for an Iced Capp (obvs), and hit the road on our summer adventure. The field was simple to find and arrived around 10:30am. It wasn’t busy when we got …

SPENDING TIME WITH THE FAM

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Hey friends, I hope your summer is going well and that you’re embracing any and all awkward tan lines. I’ve been enjoying the warm weather with the fam jam as much as I can because I’ve missed too many birthdays and holiday celebrations the past two years, I need to make up for lost time! If you’ve never met the Moy gang before, then you’re in for a little treat. Check out my vlog below as I spend time with my parents, brothers, and precious little niece, Mila. I also chat about my experience thus far with condo hunting in Toronto and, to be honest, I have no idea WTF I’m doing.. but I’m on my way! A couple weeks ago my cousins from my mom’s side got together for a little quality bonding time, without the actual grown-ups (aka our parents who force us to talk to other grown-ups at family functions and none of us really care for it and we’d rather all just hang out without being forced to chat with long …

10 THINGS I NEED TO UPDATE YOU ON

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HI FRIENDS! I haven’t posted in a month.. and a few days.. BUT I AM HERE! ALIVE! It feels goooooood to be writing a blog post again. I know it’s been awhile and I definitely owe you a catch-up. So, grab a snack? While you’re at it, grab one for me too? Unless it’s a bag of baby carrots, celery or an apple. Then I’ll pass. Still love ya, even though you may have terrible taste in snack options. ANYWAY! While I was in the shower tonight, nicking my ankles while shaving, I thought about how this dumb little blog has been around for six years. SIX. YEARS. It has seen me through university, various jobs, questionable outfits, boyfriends, moving across the globe, traveling, etc, etc. All of this to say.. I love this space, a lot. Even though I don’t write on this blog as often as I would like, you my dear readers are ALWAYS on my mind. How are you doing BTW? Did you get a new haircut? You look great! 😉 10 …

WHEN LOVE ARRIVES

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When Love Arrives is a spoken word poem written and performed by Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye. I stumbled upon the video tonight and the words touched ma wittle hart. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Love is not who you were expecting, love is not who you can predict. Maybe love is in New York City, already asleep; You are in California, Australia, wide awake. Maybe love is always in the wrong time zone. Maybe love is not ready for you. Maybe you are not ready for love. Maybe love just isn’t the marrying type. Maybe the next time you see love is twenty years after the divorce, love is older now, but just as beautiful as you remembered. Maybe love is only there for a month. Maybe love is there for every firework, every birthday party, every hospital visit. Maybe love stays- maybe love can’t. Maybe love shouldn’t. Love arrives exactly when love is supposed to, and love leaves exactly when love must. When love arrives, say, “Welcome. Make yourself comfortable.” …

SAFARI & CAMPING AT CHOBE NATIONAL PARK IN BOTSWANA

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  Botswana is a country smack dab in the middle of southern Africa. Note: Botswana is not in South Africa but the countries do border each other and yes, South Africa is its own country (just clarifying for my mother). If you travel to Africa, Botswana is well-known for their epic safari adventures. The country is home to 150 species of mammals, 460 species of birds, and 200 species of reptiles/amphibians. Plus, national parks and wildlife reserves make up 40% of the land (!!). It is also the place where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fell in love. All of this to say, it’s a pretty special place. The hostel I stayed at in Livingstone, Zambia set me up with Kalahai Tours, which offered a 2-day, 1-night boat/4×4 vehicle tour and camping at Chobe National Park (all food and transportation provided!). I can’t remember the exact price I paid for it all, but roughly $300 USD. When I arrived at Chobe National Park the only goal I had was to snap a glorious Insta-worthy pic of giraffes strutting …

MY SUMMER GOALS 2018

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As I’m writing this post, there is 5ft of snow outside my doorstep (LOL.. it’s April) so writing a summer goals list feels a little odd. If you’re a long time reader (bless your sweet soul), you know that I start my list in May and go until the end of August. The month of May is exactly two weeks away (!!) and I’m about to get crackin’ on my goals whether there is still snow on the ground or not. Plz note: If there is snow fall in May, I’m literally moving my ass to Mexico. Last summer I had 10 goals I wanted to accomplish, but life got in the way and my focus shifted, leaving the list unintentionally abandoned. *cries* I did cross off a solid 6 out of 10, which is a pass, but still disappointing. Now that I am back in Canada, a majority of my summer will be spent focusing on my career so, I’ve narrowed the list down to 5 goals. Still cute and fun but manageable, ya …

EXPLORING VICTORIA FALLS IN LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA

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I’ve been back on Canadian soil for nearly a month. Can’t say it’s been easy, but also can’t say it’s been hard either (bless Momma Moy’s home cooking). Part of me feels like I never left, but then I walk around the streets of Toronto and nothing feels familiar, not even the snow! Haven’t seen snowfall in a couple of years (I’m not a fan of cold weather so I never missed it, tbh). It’s hard to explain the complexities of reverse culture shock, but I won’t be focusing on that today because we’re talking about something SUPER EXCITING! MY DAY TRIP LAST MONTH TO VICTORIA FALLS! A NATURAL WONDER OF THE WORLD! If you haven’t read the first part of my Livingstone, Zambia trip, catch up plz. Victoria falls is the largest waterfall in the world. Not the tallest, nor the widest, but the largest. I don’t know the mathematics of it either, but I do know that the width reaches nearly two kilometers spanning across Zambia and Zimbabwe, and it’s hella beautiful. 3 things …