Adventures in Networking

<< Willing spring to come back and looking like a professional in the process >>

Last night I went to an event for work. Women In Film and Television Toronto was hosting an advanced screening of The Grand Seduction. Afterwards they held a networking event and I attended for my job at Women Who Run It.

If you read my post yesterday, then you'll know that I was a bit scared to go to this event, but I said yes because I knew it would be a great opportunity for me.

I sat in the theatre alone a bit nervous, but still pushing myself to enjoy the moment, stop using my phone as a shield, and get the most out of this experience.

When a young, professional-looking girl sat next to me I introduced myself and chatted with her about the event. It was kind of cool to push myself out of my comfort zone and talk to a complete stranger.

The movie was really cute and staring at Taylor Kitsch for two straight hours didn't hurt either.

Afterwards we all made our way to the networking event. The girl I sat next to chatted with me for a bit. She was actually pretty amazing. She had lived in China, California and now Toronto. The things you can learn from new people I tell yah!

When I spotted Heather (the woman I was coming to meet) I politely excused myself and made my way over, eye on the prize. I introduced myself and the rest was cake! Heather introduced me to her whole team, we did an interview together, grabbed some photos, and  she pointed me in the right direction to grab another interview. Before I knew it it was 9:30 and the event was done!

Here's a couple of photos I grabbed from the event:

Moral of the story: I survived and even succeeded! I felt very accomplished walking out of there in my blazer and sensible heels. There may be hope for me yet!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
New to Networking

Say Yes, Say Yes

This is a little piece of advice that I have to constantly remind myself.

Yesterday my boss gave me the opportunity to attend an event for work. Number one, I should be totally stoked to be trusted and encouraged to attend events. Number two, this event is, for all intents and purposes, pretty cool. Unfortunately, the first thing that came to my mind was no.

Immediately I start thinking about how I could get out of it. What could be used as a good excuse?

I think I'm not completely out of line here when I say that I do not like networking. I don't feel comfortable introducing myself to strangers, being forced to come up with and continue meaningful conversation, and all this with a the idea of making my company look bad looming over my head. On top of that, when do you give out your business card? How do you switch the conversation over from business to pleasure?

I sure as heck don't know, but I typed in yes and hit send. Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Committed.

All of this bravery came from attending a weekend seminar a couple of weeks ago. I, as usual, didn't want to go, but I said yes and it brought me amazing things. I learned so much, I gained a ton of confidence, and I learned, above all, to say yes.

From now on I've decided to take the leap, say yes, and figure it out afterwards. If I continue to turn down new experiences then I will never get anywhere in this life.

That my friends, is how you grow.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Yes Woman

Groceries for Grownups

Buying groceries is a love/hate thing for me.

I love being in control of everything I buy. I don't buy anything unhealthy (hey, there are enough temptations in the world without bringing them into my kitchen), and I'll admit I even get a bit of "Conveyer Belt Pride", as I call it, when I put all of my food on the conveyer belt at the check out and watch all my healthy food roll by. I've become a lot more food conscious over the past couple of years. I still love chocolate and the occasional "Health" Red Bull (aka zero calorie red bull), and I'll never turn down a gummy worm, but I've also  become a lot more knowledgeable about chemicals, what I put into my body, and where my food comes from.

Now to the hate part, I hate paying for it. There are ways to do it cheaper, but I find that when you shop mainly in produce, as I tend to, that the price tends to hike itself up easily. This is the price I pay for avoiding the sodium and chemicals of the canned food aisle. Also, I'm not a particularly inventive cook. I tend to eat breakfast for almost every meal, or some kind of panini. Eggs are an easy and tasty way to get my protein in and I could eat toast for any meal. I should probably work on that.

Here's what I got for $60.00:
-Apples
-Pears
-Globe Grapes
- Grapefruit
-Bananas
-Green Beans
-Corn
-Green Onions
-Asparagus
-Broccoli
-Green Pepper
-Unsalted Hazlenuts
-Turkey Bacon
-Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts
-Brown Eggs
-Becel with Olive Oil
-COFFEE

Pretty expensive, but not too crazy considering everything I bought.

I found some great healthy recipes in a magazine last night so I think I'll try to recreate a few of those. I think my taste buds are sooo over eggs and toast. The moral of the story here is that I think I've progressed past the poor student Kraft Dinner diet, to the point where I'm reading labels and flipping through magazines for new recipes. How did I get here?

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Egg-celent Breakfast Cook

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Spring Time

I don't know if you know this about me, but I have a very intense love affair with froyo. My best friend does too. We're a match made in heaven.

After we went for a long jog last week, we decided that we had earned a little froyo together. So we grabbed a camera and headed downtown to grab some yogurt and get some photos along the way.

The best part of this is that we are finally about to walk around town without our coats on, grab a cold treat, and enjoy the thawed out city.

Here's the byproduct of that:

<< Sufficiently embarrassing Erika >>

 << Hello Stunner! >>

 << My very favourite shoes >>

<< Queen West has some great murals. I love this one a lot. >>

That was a really happy day and I'm glad we documented it. Luckily there are many more sunny days and yogurt dates in the future!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Froyo Addict, Anti-Coat Activist

Sweater Weather

This has been one of the worst winters ever. That's half opinion and half fact.

The thing that made it completely horrible was that this was the first year since I was 17 that I didn't have a car. It was good for my independence, my problem solving skills, and as some people would say, it built character. 

So there's the bright side on that I guess.

The real bright side is that it has slowly started to get warmer and you better believe that I am taking full advantage of that by leaving my coat at home whenever possible.

My roommate and I braved the post winter/pre spring winds to get these pictures. We thought it was warmer than it really was but I didn't crack. That's true commitment.

Enjoy :)

And sometimes…you have to do a little outfit change, just because.

And just for fun, this is my impression of a linked in picture:

I am ready to take on the world there, can't you tell?

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Sun Worshiper

I Helped Write an Ebook!

Since I've been working at Women Who Run It I've done a lot of things I would have never imagined I could do.

I've taken on so much responsibility and challenged myself in so many ways, but one thing I'm very proud of is co-writing an ebook.

Myself and two other employees worked together to completely create Lead Live Love and I think it's an amazing ebook that women will learn so much from.

Lead Live Love is about empowering women in all areas of life, from their careers, to their health, to their love life.

Get your copy for free HERE.

My pieces are on pages 6, 12, 18 and 24!

Enjoy!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Ebook Writer Extraordinaire

Seeing My City: Ripley's Aquarium

Ever since the aquarium opened this year, I have been dying to go.

I mean, who wouldn't want to walk through a tunnel while being surrounded by sharks? Exactly.

The boyfriend came up for the weekend and we woke up bright and early on a Sunday morning to make our way downtown and go participate in some wholesome family fun. I say that because good lord, there were about a million families there. If you're thinking of having kids, don't go to a place like that one on the weekend. These kids pushed me back about another 5 years on the baby having timeline…and my tolerance for children has already made me push them off for at least another 8 years. Thanks a lot kids, you'll may make me go through menopause before I decide I want you…but I digress.

Here are my shots from the day:

 This is how Jordan feels about taking pictures with me

 And this is his best attempt 

Breakfast!

 Nemo and Dori!

The aquarium was really fun. There was tons to see, it was incredibly interesting, and made for a good way to spend a Sunday.

Visit Ripley's Aquarium if you're ever in the city…just try to go on a weekday so you aren't surrounded by a million small children. Im not even kidding, Jordan actually tripped over a child at one point. That's a perfect description of what it was like.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

City Explorer with a Low Child Tolerance

Seeing the City Through the Lense

My roommate Erika is a fashion student and you wouldn't be a true fashion student if you didn't go out and take a few pictures of your outfits every now and then would you? Of course not.

Of course I obliged to help her. Who wouldn't want to get a few photos snapped of a beautiful spring day?

We went down to the lake first and snapped some pictures with the skyline in the background and then headed downtown to get some city sites in. It was so fun "scouting locations" and laughing as we awkwardly took pictures and tried not to look like crazies in front of the people walking by.

We did get some good shots though! Take a look:

We've done this a couple more times since these pictures we taken so I have lots more to show you soon.

Now go out an enjoy the gorgeous spring weather, oh and see your city!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

City Seeing, Photo Taking, Street Poser