A 5'3 Perspective


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Fabulous Finds Friday: The Under Armour What’s Beautiful Campaign

If you follow other fitness bloggers, you’ve likely already heard about the new[ish] Under Amour What’s Beautiful campaign. Designed to redefine the  female athlete, the brand has created a website filled with physical and mental challenges for women to conquer. Upon signing up, you will set a goal (or goals) for yourself towards, and then you proceed to work towards absolutely crushing it. The women taking part in this endeavor and seriously strong and driven. They exude confidence and help empower each other. It is an amazing community to be part of and no goal is too small to set. Since I joined the challenge I have been trying to new things and pushing myself harder than ever before. Under Amour has created a healthy and friendly competition for ladies who want to take their fitness to the next level. The What’s Beautiful campaign is a continuous challenge, it is about sharing the journey and push beyond our comfort zones.

Here are a few of the challenges I have completed:

Written Validation Sweat It Out Community Throwdown Mile MarkerTo join the challenge head over the the Under Amour What’s Beautiful website, register, define your goal(s) – which you can update at any time, and start completing challenges! Once you complete your registration you can begin to follow athletes (friends – my profile can be found here) and join teams of ladies who are working towards a similar goal. If you stand out as one of the top performers, you might just find yourself on a plane to Costa Rica courtesy of Under Amour to attend a 4-day yoga and surf retreat – but for me, this is about pushing myself to be the best I can be!

What are you waiting for, now is your time to shine. In the words of Olivia Newton-John, “let’s get physical”!

xo Lauren


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Fabulous Finds Friday – The Selfish Edition

Remember this post? It has been a month since I set out out to do things for myself – so now it is time to check in.

The goals I set for myself were:

1. Treat myself to real flowers.

2. Buy a bottle of wine instead of drinking only homemade.

3. Be more observant.

4. Pamper myself. 

5. Perform at least one random act of kindness.

Honestly, I thought it would be a breeze to change my lifestyle and adapt these practices. Boy was I wrong. Here is where I stand.

1. I have not bought myself new flowers per se, however, Neil bought me some for Valentine’s Day and we planted some new herbs [more to come on that soon]. Not bad – better luck this month.

2. This was actually quite a success. The $100 gift card I received definitely made this goal easier to follow through with. I think this is something I will continue in the future, it is so much more luxurious than drinking homemade.

3. Being observant is not my strong suit. It is something I used to do very well and then trained myself to stop. It has become easy to turn a blind eye. I am noticing that since setting this goal for myself I force myself to notice the small things. Like this Instagram shot for example.

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Nothing special about it, but I liked the combination of items and the way the light was hitting them. That is something I wouldn’t have given a second glance in the past.

4. Done and done. This was easy… Despite treating myself to a hair trim and a fiery red new colour.

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I also took time to give myself at home facials, manicures and relax in the hot tub. Oh and I just pressed “place order” on the Sephora website.

5. I am so proud to tell you that I did perform a random act of kindness. I’m not just talking about giving up my seat on the bus or picking up a lost mitten. No, I actually went out of my way to help someone. While I was waiting in line to pay for my groceries, I overheard the cashier telling the patron in front of me that she did not have enough money for her items. It seemed as though she hadn’t brought anything extra with her and was ready to leave empty handed. Had I not been cognizant of my kindness goal, I likely wouldn’t have said anything – this time, I offered to pick up the difference on my bill. The patron wasn’t very thankful, but I felt great about helping someone out.

All in all – I’d say my new take on Fabulous Friday was a success. I am not ready to add five more goals for myself since I can only confidently admit that I will stick to two tasks. So, I’m replacing number 2 and 4 and adding two more, which are:

1. Stop checking my phone before bed. This is a such a bad habit that I’ve picked up. I’ll spend at least ten minutes scrolling through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter before I fall asleep – not anymore. Neil – hold me accountable.

2. Drink more water. At least two water bottles a day to start.

Hope you are still pushing yourself to achieve your 2013 goals! I’d love to hear what you guys are working towards!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! I’ll be keeping things low key, but I am extremely excited to try out my first class at iNSiDE Out STUDiO barre. If you are interested in giving barre class a try – your first class is free at iNSiDE Out STUDiO barre and I am fortunate to have been given a second free class as well thanks to lululemon [because of this issue].

xo Lauren


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My InstaLife: January in Review

I know the month isn’t over yet, but I have some fun Instagram shots that I wanted to share. Hope you enjoy!

Hockey Returns!

Hockey Returns!

Started to read a great book.

Started to read a great book.

Enjoyed a relaxing evening.

Enjoyed a relaxing evening.

Stumbled across a doggy driver.

Stumbled across a doggy driver.

Girls Martini Night

Girls Martini Night

Made some "Toxic Teddies" - I'll share the recipe soon.

Made some “Toxic Teddies” – I’ll share the recipe soon.

Tried to brave the frigid winter in this head turner.

Tried to brave the frigid winter in this head turner.

xo Lauren


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A Little Pep[lum] To Your Step

I know I’ve already told you how much I love the peplum trend so today I wanted to show you just how easy it is to wear!

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Peplum Top: Anthropologie, Jeans: DL191 Angel in Mariner, Shoes: Steve Madden (similar), Necklace: Anthropologie and Ring: Wunderkammer Ottawa (similar).

Did you guys know that Instagram is now available online?! I think this is an awesome option for those of you who are still [supporting the Canadian smartphone industry] using Blackberry’s! You can check out my profile here or any other profiles by going to http://www.instagram.com/username. Here is a snapshot from my Instagram feed.

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Happy Hump Day – only a few more to go until the weekend!!!