personal

A Personal Note to You

Posted on by yknight

Hi all!

I’m sorry I haven’t posted for a week; I’ve been dealing with so much in my personal life recently, that I haven’t had a chance to sit and breathe. Because of everything I’m dealing with currently, I will continue to take a couple of day to attempt to deal with what happened, and figure out my next course of action.

I’m so sorry for being absent from here, and I really hope you all understand. My first post when I get back will explain my story; what I’ve been dealing with for the past four years and the unfortunate turn it took this past week. The true reason why I started a blog was to tell my story, and it’s time I do so.

Thanks so much,

Knightlights

Glamday Monday!

Posted on by yknight

Happy Monday!

I’m posting rather late today (which was not a part of my plan for the day). I nearly considered not posting today, and just nestling up under the covers reading a book.

However, I just had to get this idea out on my page, or else I would feel like I didn’t quite accomplish what I had set out to do on this first day of the week.

As is starting to be a trend on Knightlights, I’m categorizing my posts into different areas. Even though I am covering quite a bit of topics, it doesn’t seem to be so because of how I’ve managed to organize them (or at least, this is what I’m hoping it comes out to be).

One area that I briefly mentioned in my introduction post (“I Finally did it, Mom!”) is that I would cover the area of beauty and makeup!

Like any feminine woman, I find myself enamoured by the beauty industry. I love trying out new products, discovering new makeup trends, and (often through trial and error) tips and tricks to make my makeup look oh-so flawless. Over the years, through formal training, and self training (Hello! Youtube teaches you everything!), I have learned SO MUCH about beauty and makeup. I now find myself looking for an ear to listen to me ramble. No, seriously, it has come to a point, where I’m actually eavesdropping on other conversations, hoping for  a chance to give my input on a beauty product… or whatever. It’s a serious problem

So now, you will be the people who will have the opportunity to hear me rant and rave about the little makeup gems I am loving at the moment.  On Mondays, here on my blog, I will dedicate my posts to one of my (many) passions; makeup. You will find makeup reviews, hauls of things I couldn’t stop myself from buying, and makeup trends I feel are worth an attempt. I’m super excited about being able to test out my brushes, and help others out who may be new to the whole “makeup thing”.

But I do want most posts to be more than that, I hope that I will show through this series that you can love getting all dolled up, yet still be an empowered woman. Society likes to tell women that if you love makeup, it must mean that you’re shallow. Obviously, ladies, this isn’t true.

This will definitely not be your typical beauty blogger series.

On My Horizon

Posted on by yknight

Happy Saturday!

Today I find myself curled up on the couch under a cozy blanket, sipping on some hot chocolate. It’s a cold rainy day here, and there’s something about rainy days that just makes me want to sleep. Now, I do have dinner plans later, so that’s not an option. But as I’m sitting here on this wet day, I’m finding myself reflecting on the past week.
To wrap up my first week on the blogging-sphere, I felt like sharing with all of you some things that are “On My Horizon”. 

#MyOttawa

It wouldn’t make sense for me to not include this. If you happened to turn on the TV to a news station this week, (especially if you live in Canada), you would have heard about the shooting that occurred on Parliament Hill, which resulted in the death of a solider standing guard at the War Memorial. Now, I will not rehash the entirety of the details of this unfortunate event, but something really beautiful happened after such a dark event on social media. On Instagram, Ottawa was trending, for a different reason. Many people from the beautiful city began to share pictures that show what Ottawa is truly about. If you have Instagram, definitely take a look at the hashtag, especially if you’ve never heard of the city before the tragedy.

“The Opposite of Loneliness” 

I know, I know, this book has been out for a while, (I actually purchased this book a couple of months ago), but I finally began to read it, and it’s such an incredible book. Written by a Yale graduate who was killed in a car accident days after her graduation, “The Opposite of Loneliness”, speaks to the issues that plague this generation; the feeling of not knowing where we belong, the feeling of it being too late, the feeling being stuck at an age where nothing is for sure. If you are a twenty-something like I am, pick up this book (and you probably won’t be able to put it back down).

A New Skating Season 

Ah, the dawn of a new skating season. Now I’m a former competitive figure skater, so needless to say, I’m slightly obsessed with Figure Skating. The first event of the season is Skate America (which is actually on right now!). I’ll eventually do an entire post on figure skating, but for now, the new skating season (and new quadrennial) makes me feel…a little more alive.

Above and Beyond “Acoustic” 

I LOVE EDM. If I ever need a jolt of energy, I will definitely be listening to something along the lines of dance music. However, as I was searching through Youtube the other day for some new music, I stumbled upon Above and Beyond’s “acoustic” concert. Above and Beyond (one of my favourite groups), re-created some of their most love songs, in, just as the title sounds, Acoustic. I cannot stop playing this album, and I suggest you watch the concert, then download the album.

So that’s it! What are some things “On Your Horizon” this week?

Introducing: Fit Femme!

Posted on by yknight

Today I’m starting a little series on Knightlights called “Fit Femme”. The name pretty much says what it will consist of, but let me give a little explanation and reasoning behind it all.

I LOVE fitness, I’m obsessed with feeling strong, and making progress physically. I guess a lot of it is related to my personality; I’m a strong personality, not easily swayed, and not scared to speak my mind. But I’m also an athlete; I have been my whole life (I’ll post more about my background in fitness in another post).

So what will you expect from Fit Femme? Well, I’ll be sharing the tips and tricks that I use to be a “Fit Femme” (get it?). You’ll see everything from my Workout of the day, to my workout playlist, to healthy food I’m loving, to various hot topics that are floating around the fitness world. I guess, it’s everything that you’ll need to know to become a fit femme (or a fit guy).

But like any responsible person, I’m going to make a little disclaimer. I am NOT a personal trainer, and I am NOT a certified dietician. I simply love fitness, and have been engrossed in this fit community for my entire life. My posts are just my personal experiences, routed from trial and error.

So next Friday, definitely be on the lookout for the first real post on my little series (I feel like I’m hosting a TV show or something) Fit Femme!

Wait

Posted on by yknight

I was so excited about my post last night, that I spent the night dreaming about what I would post today. I had this brilliant plan, with an amazing tagline, all set to post today. Seriously, I could barely sleep because I was so proud of this idea.

Then, something unimaginable happened.

“Please evacuate the building for an emergency”

If you managed to glance at a TV screen today, you probably saw the catastrophe that happened in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada this morning. If not, I’ll quickly fill you in.

This morning, an individual shot a solider standing guard at the War Memorial in Ottawa; a short walk from the Parliament and seat of our National Government. The individual then went up to Parliament Hill, and proceeded to exchange fire with the security personnel on the Hill; eventually being shot down by possibly (yet to be officially confirmed) the Sergeant-at-Arms.

The downtown core (so, if you’re not from Ottawa, that’s basically where a large percentage of the Government buildings and hot tourist spots are) has been under lockdown since 10AM today, because the police do not know if there is another shooter at large, and the police are not ready to let the public know what all they know (if they do) about the situation.

I was under lockdown for most of the day.  in fact, the lockdown at the location where I was located, was lifted long enough for me to get into a safer location. However, the entire tone of the day was so…eerie. There was this feeling of fear and uncertainty in the air. It in fact, was worse because in the heart of downtown, we had no idea what was going on; yet all of the drama (so to say) was happening blocks away. Cell phone service was down, we had little access to media, and we were going by the scant information given to us by police.

While I was sitting in my corner next to my co-workers and some books about various methods of cooking, I began to think of how little control we have in so many circumstances.

Here’s something about me: I’m a planner. No really. I’m a planner. I have a color-coded agenda, I have a ten step plan for my life, and as I said to one of my co-workers today, I have this need to be in control of every aspect of my life.

But, today, I had no control over the situation. Today, I had to rely on faith and hope that everything will be okay – without my 10 step plan. While I’m a firm believer in being proactive, and going after a situation, there is always a waiting period. There is always a period of waiting.

Today, if I waltzed on outside against police command, I could have been killed. In life, in a different way, if we go out against our gut, or our inner voice, we could be “killed”, figuratively speaking.

After we’ve done all we can do in a situation, sometimes what we have to do is sit back, sit tight, and wait for the clock to run.

And so we wait….

I finally did it Mom!

Posted on by yknight

I finally did it! I finally took the plunge and made a blog.

I’ve always wanted to have a blog, or at least a little place online that I could call my own. Obviously, in the social media centred culture that we have now, it’s not like there is a lack of options. But finding the right avenue for someone like me, was a bit of a challenge.

I’m a very private person; if there is anything said frequently about me, it’s that (and that I love cats too much, but that’s for another day).  To get me to open up about myself, is much like pulling teeth. When my girlfriends and I are out having coffee, I’m usually the one listening, rather than talking about anything that I may be going through at any given period of time.

So you’re probably wondering, why on earth would I want to blog to begin with?

I came to a point in my life where the question was “why not!” rather than “why should I?”. In a sense, I have nothing left to lose. Revealing yourself in a new way is always scary, and something I avoid; I play  the game of life very safely. However, I’ve come to a place in my life where playing it safe is no longer working for me. You can’t play life safely, because life in of itself isn’t safe. At all. My life has become an endless circle of the same experiences with different names, and I need more.

Heck, the most memorable experiences in my life were the odd times when I decided to step out into oncoming traffic (not actually, but work with me here!)

So, here I go, stepping into the middle of a highway.