Category: Surviving Adulting

Hello everyone and welcome back to The Selfish Column. I hope this year has been filled with tremendous strides with your goals. This month I wanted to start off by talking about one of my guilty pleasures in life (external self-care). As many of you know I thrive in discussing topics as self-care and self-love and seeing that I have been granted the gift of sharing with this platform (which I am forever grateful for) I thought it would be a great idea talk about my recent spa date at Soma Hammam & Spa. 

The Soma Experience:

Soma is the perfect place to step into when you need a full cleanse of your body and soul. My initial thoughts when I first entered Soma I was at awe at how cozy and bright it was. I know I know; people say that about every spa they go in, but trust me on this one. As you walk through the doors you are greeted with a table full of assorted treats and warm tea (just in time for the perfect Mani/Pedi or a facial cleansing.

The treatment I received at Soma was like no other. For those that are not familiar with the word Hammam, it is an ancient word for bath or bathing. In fact, the owner and director of the spa received this same treatment in Turkey prior to bringing this practice to her business. Hammam is considered Turkey’s oldest and traditional cleansing ritual. Hammam has evolved through time to become a sought-after spa experience.  

My Hammam Treatment: 

Hammam is a treatment or practice use in which someone else assist in bathing and scrubbing your body. Although it might sound intimate to some, it was is one of the most refreshing ways to attain relaxation. This is a 75-minute treatment in which you are required to bring your bathing suit. The spa expert will start you off by relaxing your body in a heated stone- bathing slab to help was increasing the body’s temperature, stimulating the immune system and helping the body detoxify.

Once my body was relaxed the real work began; the expert started the cleansing process using the invigorating salt scrub and finishing with a moisturizing body massage. As a person who indulges in long showers followed by intensive use of moisturizers, I was quite pleased with the result. The salt scrub really brought out the dead skin in my body and leaving me smoother than ever. The moisturizing and body massage was just what I needed, I was able to moisturize the part of my back that I can never reach on my own. As a girl who loves the warmth, cause hello!!! I am African born and raise; the heated stone-bathing slab spoke to me. You can catch me sleeping under a hundred blankets with no apology!

Glow Facial Treatment:

The second treatment I received at Soma was their glow skin facial. This is perfect for the man or woman looking for a quick face refresher before a big event. Prior to starting the treatment, I received a quick analysis of the skin by their Certified Aestheticians. Once that was completed, I started the skin treatment with a gentle exfoliation with a natural walnut shell scrub, followed by a gommagee soft peel. We finished the treatment with facial steam using witch hazel tonic. The word witch hazel brings me so much joy, cause I put that on everything!!! I left this treatment with a whole different feel about my skin. As a woman that wears makeup daily, I appreciated the glow the treatment left on my skin. I truly believe this would be the perfect addition to your skin-care routine.

I hope you enjoyed my brief recap of my time at Soma Hammam & Spa. This was an incredible experience, to say the least. I am looking forward to my next Glow Facial Treatment. I am also considering adding this as part of my external self-care treatment.

As a thank you for always supporting me and getting this far, I decided to team up with Soma Hammam & Spa to give one lucky winner a chance to experience the Soma Pedicure. If you live in the Calgary area or visiting in the near feature, I highly encourage you to enter this contest. Please check out the contest rules below.  

Contest Rules: 

Follow @Somacalgary
Like the last three photos on their page.

• Post One
• Post Two
• Post Three

Follow: @nancynywala
Like the last three photos on my page.

• Post One
• Post Two
• Post Three

As we grow accustomed to the ins and outs of adulthood, we tend to forget the most important aspects of ourselves. The essence of who we are – the part that keeps pushing forward to achieve everything we’ve ever wanted. Every so often, we need to look at ourselves and ask if we’re doing okay. If we’re happy. If we feel fulfilled in what we’re doing. We might also have to contemplate the tough questions. You know, the “Am I becoming too comfortable?”, “Do I need an attitude check?”, “Am I really working as hard as I say I am?” Living alone has taught me so much about myself, and truthfully, I might have had too much time alone. During that time though, I was able to develop some skills to supplement my self-care regimens. Please see my tips below and let me know your thoughts:   

Don’t Be Scared To Talk To Yourself: This is an absolute first on my list. Having positive self-talk and challenging your inner critic allows you to play so many scenarios in your head. My problem-solving skills have grown immensely with this practice. I’ve learned how to react smarter in various situations. Overall, I’m teaching myself to have a better outlook in life, which has resulted in me forever minding my own damn business. 

Don’t Stretch Yourself Too Thin: This goes hand in hand with the adage “work smarter not harder.” If we’re being honest here – I am still working on this one. I am still the girl that overbooks herself, which results in me running late to appointments, meetings and hangouts. This year, I’ve made a decision to make this my personal goal – to live within my means. When you stretch yourself thin and overbook your schedule, you fail to realize the mental strain this causes. 

Invest in Yourself: One of my all-time favourite sayings is, “There is no business like your business.” We live in a world in which we’re driven by instant gratification with no sense of longevity. If you have a goal, a business plan, a craft you want to turn into your ultimate passion; my advice is to learn what you can about that industry and invest time and energy in it. Ladies and Gents, hate to be the one to break it to you, but everything costs money – and you need money to make money. This means if you want to do something, make sure you do your research and budget budget budget! 

Take Care of Your Health: This year I made it a point to put my health first. Last year, I put my body through a lot, and I am paying for it this year. In January, I made sure I called my family doctor, dentist, and gyno to get all my necessary health checkups out of the way. The older I get, the more it hits me that health is true wealth. There are so many things in life and goals I want to accomplish that I simply can’t afford to let anything get in the way.  

Sit in Silence: Man, I can’t tell you enough how much I love sitting alone after a long day of work. Not in meditation, just simply turning off any stimulus and zombie-ing yourself out. I often drive home with no music to help me reprogram my brain before beginning a new task. I am that weird person that sits in their car after they park and just chills. (Even in the mall during Christmas shopping season – I am that horrible person people hate) 

I hope you found this post resonates with you or was at the very least insightful. I really enjoy discussing topics about self-care. Leave your thoughts below regarding these tips! 

Until next time Selfish Readers,
  ~S.C~ 

So, my friends I wanted to share these moments with you so you can have the courage to get out of your comfort soon, even a little like I did. Seek new adventures and new memories or take a big leap and seek out that job you always wanted. Whatever that leap might be for you at this moment take charge and see how life rewards you.

Thank you for stopping by The Selfish Column and getting this far. Until next time selfish readers.

~S.C~

Hello everyone and welcome back to The Selfish Column. Hope all is going great in your lives as always.  As you can see the topic for today is for all my single living peeps!!!. Recently I spoke to a few people in my life that are currently living on their own and shared some really fun and interesting ideas on how we manage this new sense of freedom… ish?!! .

So how do I get my motivation back once the laziness hit, how do I stay productive throughout the day you ask?. Well, look no further at the list provided below.

1. Don’t feel guilty if you are not big on grocery shopping:

Three trips a week to the grocery store is better than one giant one that has items you didn’t use go bad. The reason why I stress this is because I used to feel like I needed to go to the grocery store and buy everything possible because in my head that’s what adults do. But I learned very quickly that I was wasting a shit ton of money with that kind of mentality.

2. Don’t feel rushed into getting your home together all at once:

When I first got the place to myself, I had all these expectations of my home. I kept telling myself that my space had to be a certain way at a certain time before anyone can enter. Once I took a step back and let things fall into place, I was able to enjoy the process without rushing or breaking the bank. The space I took between actually purchasing things and bringing them into my place allowed me to come across really amazing sales.

3. Figure out what budget works for you and write everything down:

Things can get lost quickly if you do not pay attention to your spending. I speak this to you as I continue to struggle to find my own balance at times. Budgeting does not mean that once it’s written down that it’s set in stone. As long as you don’t plan to stay stagnant in your current life, your budget can always grow.

4. Give yourself one day a week or even a month that is dedicated to administration:

I learned this from an amazing blogger and friend Justine Celine. This woman is so full of wisdom when it comes to this blog thing. Once I decided to take this challenge on with my emails, I started incorporating it to my everyday life. this included things such as making list for house stuff, making appointments, and returning calls from family and friends. Pretty much anything you feel fit in your life to keep the wheels going can be put on the list.

The one thing I can leave with you is to remember that you can’t put a price tag on your peace of mind. What works for you may not work for someone else.

Thank you for stopping by The Selfish Column, I can’t wait to hear all of your thoughts.

~S.C~

Hey everyone and welcome back to The Selfish Column. Can you believe it is Valentine’s Day? Who doesn’t love “LOVE”!!! Better yet who doesn’t love sharing the love with everyone around them?. This year, I decided not only to celebrate Valentine’s Day but also share Galentine’s Day with my girls. What’s Galentine’s Day you ask? Well, it’s the day before V-Day; where you and your lovely girls treat each other to a day of fun, laughter, and DRINKS!! This year with the help of La Marca Prosecco I and my lovely ladies took the morning by a storm. We woke up to a lovely pancake breakfast and some good old Mimosa (what more can a girl ask for).

The day was spend sipping on some yummy bubbles, and taking in the sugar high from the cupcakes. (Remember sugar, spice, and everything Nice- (bet you can’t complete the phrase).

Who said girls can’t have fun while getting ready. Honestly, this morning was perfect, I haven’t laughed this hard and enjoyed Prosecco like I did. La Marca really came through for the kid. If you know me, you know Prosecco is not usually my go to, but with how tasty, light and smooth it was, it made for such a great start to my morning and afternoon. The great thing about this Prosecco ladies and gents, it can transition greatly throughout any event you have during the day.

Did I mention this bottle is smooooth, I mean like smoother than a fresh perm!!! Hahhhhah.  Really though the bubbles are persistent which goes perfectly with the crisp finish it adds to your taste palate.

This is the perfect bottle not only for a day like Galentine’s Day, but any other occasion coming up in your life. The year is still young and there are plenty of events to be celebrated, so why not pick up a bottle of La Marca Prosecco for the occasion.

As always thank you for stopping by and getting this far into the post. A special thanks to the girls that came to spend this Galantine’s Day with me.  I am forever at aww with the love and dedication I receive every day from all the amazing women in my life. Today was just the tip of my lifelong celebrations with so many of you.

~S.C~

Welcome back to The Selfish Column everyone, hope all is well in your world of adulting. As you can tell by the title today we are talking about that “wonderful” thing called student loan. And by wonderful I mean that life-sucking nightmare that gives false investment into your future (lol where is the lie though… RIGHT).  If you live in North America and have ever set your mind on a post-secondary education, you may have noticed the expensive price tag that comes with this decision. Don’t get me wrong, investing in your future is an incredible thing and so is continuously educating yourself.

A little About My College/University Journey

During my college years, I was living with my parents while working the weekends and summer days to pay for my classes. Living at home helped minimize my expenses while paying for school.  After graduating my college program,  I went straight to the third year of my university program and took out my first loan.  When it came time to pay it off I struggled with it because not only did I move away from home but I went back to school without informing student loan. Honestly, I did not know how to go about paying this. I fell behind and pretended that my loan didn’t exist, but that didn’t last long. Eventually, I took control of the situation and started slow. I decided to take a look at my interest rate and my income tax returns.  The best course of action for me at the time was to give my tax return back to the government. It wasn’t easy to give this cash up because tax season is always around my birthday and the reality of no more extra birthday cash was saddening ( no more stunting with my returns hahahahahah).  But I had to remind myself constantly that I lived without the income tax return money for a year and managed to survive just fine. After all, being out of debt is far more important in the long run.  So without further or do, please see below my basic tips on managing your student loan.

Tips:

1. Check when tuition is due for each semester:

This is good if you pay your own classes. This gives you time to save up and pay slowly toward your classes. I did this while in college, I made a point to treat it like a monthly bill and visited the registrar office each month to pay off a large sum.

2. Save a portion of your grants and or bursaries:

With a student loan, you get things such a grants and scholarships, I know it is money you don’t have to pay back but that doesn’t mean you can’t use a portion of it towards your student loan. 

3. Use a portion of your income tax to pay a large amount:

Most students use their income tax return as extra money to go on trips— But if you divide accordingly, you will be able to enjoy more of it in the long run.

4. Always pay on top of your interest rate:

But most importantly always AlWAYS pay on time.

5. Build a relationship with the agent that holds your account:

Call the office and find out who is assigned to your account because having a strong and honest relationship with your agent can work in your favor. Keeping them in the loop of your financial situation can avoid your account being forwarded to collections and receiving those debt collector calls that we all hate.

Thank you for getting to this point and reading the whole post. I hope you found these tips to be helpful in your student career. Some of these tips I learned from personal experience and the rest I found afterward that I thought would be useful. If you enjoy this blog post please leave a comment below sharing your thoughts on it.

Have a great week everyone.

~S.C~

Hello and welcome back to The Selfish Column everyone. Hope all is going well this week for all of you. I want to discuss with you guys one of the most popular trends of 2016. Last year we saw a rise of the no makeup look all thanks to Alicia Keys. I have read so many articles praising this movement and also read some comments criticizing it. Based on my research, I found that women were stating how relieved they were to see a star such as Alicia Keys taking a stand. Many women felt free and understood others felt unbothered and criticized Alicia Keys (myself included) for this. The reason why I felt so unbothered is because I never took makeup and the concept of it to heart. In my 25 years of life, I never looked at makeup as a way to cover up imperfections, seeing that the era which I grew up in and my worldview of it were cultural and not an insecurity. My personal belief is that makeup should be fun just like any other things in life and confidence should come from within. I know I know we hear this all the time and for some people, this can be difficult. But trust me when I say this… there is value in being your own cheerleader and most importantly there is value in being YOU. At the end of the day, whether you wear something such as makeup to make you feel better or anti-aging cream to keep the skin youthful, we all must see a value within ourselves first. The reason why I feel so compelled to state this is because I have never looked at makeup as a major part of my life, truthfully I don’t know much about makeup. Just ask any of my friends about my makeup collection and they will tell you that it is SAD. I have been using the same technique since the ninth grade and my knowledge of my makeup believe it or not is sub par…. VERY LIMITED. Due to not focusing so much on this allowed me to feel free and find other ways to boost my confidence. I learned that my confidence comes from my ability to feel useful, to gain knowledge and be intelligent. I am such a workaholic that I find myself feeling low and down about myself if I’m not useful or working. The thought of being ignorant and not being able to contribute in discussions weighs heavier on me than whether I’m wearing makeup or not.

By now you should know where I am going with this. Having makeup will never change what’s on your mind, but it will always be a way to express yourself. I don’t see Loreal, Covergirl or Mac going out of business anytime soon. So do what makes you happy GIRL.  I am a girls girl, I love women and I think we are beyond powerful than what society portrays us to be.  We are not these simple creatures that paint our faces and pout our lips for pictures, I refuse to think we are that simple that we need a such a movement in our society.

I end this post by saying don’t sweat the small stuff. As women, we are part of a far greater purpose than to be concern about who is wearing makeup and who is not. Anyone can wear anything….. HECK we were clothes everyday right?  but it will never be what you wear or put on that leaves a lasting impression but rather how you express yourself. I would much rather see the world that is full of dedicated, hardworking, independent, thinking, knowledgeable women who wear makeup than the world that is so focused on tearing others down for putting makeup on.

If you made it this far thank you. If you are visiting for the first time thank you as well.

As mentioned on my Instagram page I will be giving away some goodies as a thank you for your support and love.

Giveaway: 

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb Roll on Perfume and Tom Ford Lipstick. I love the two products and thought I should share with one of you guys. Both women and men qualify.

Rules:

1. Must follow my Instagram page
2. Must like my Facebook page

~S.C~