Isha Jog – Expect nothing. Appreciate everything.

24 Hours in Toronto (And Tips for your First Time Visiting)

July 12, 2019

As most of you know, my parents love taking my brother and I on spontaneous, last minute trips. This past Fourth of July was no different. We started driving from Chicago to Niagara Falls (the Canadian side) on Friday morning, and spent Saturday in Toronto before heading back home on Sunday. I absolutely LOVED this city and can honestly see myself living here in the future. I wanted to share some of my favorite memories from this trip along with some quick tips for your future first visit to Toronto!

We visited the following places:

· Nathan Phillips Square/City Hall & Toronto sign

· Financial District

· Eaton Square

· June Callwood Park

· Vog Vault

· Lavelle

· Kensington Market/Chinatown

· Sweet Jesus Ice Cream Shop

· CN Tower/Edgewalk Experience

· Canada Sign

· Toronto Railway Heritage Center

· Harborfront Centre

· Toronto Raptors Stadium

Below I’ve added a photo from each place along with a quick tip or story about the experience!

Nathan Phillips Square/City Hall & Toronto sign: One of the most famous spots, with the Toronto sign. We went in the evening before the sun had set to take photos, but when we walked past it towards the end of the night, the letters were even more bright and impactful! Depends on what kind of photo you want to talk, but I suggest waiting until night time for the lights to be incredible.

Financial District: This area reminded me so much of downtown Chicago! From passing by Union Station to all the buildings of huge corporations like EY/KPMG and more, I felt right at home in this area. Restaurants, as expected, close very early here so you’ll have to venture out for food or maybe you’ll run into a hot dog food truck like we did.

Eaton Square: We asked some locals where we should head next, and they described Eaton Square as “Toronto’s Madison Square”. It was amazing! First we walked through the mall, which is said to be the busiest mall in North America, and then we hung out for a while outside, where there was live music, a million screens/advertisements around us, all under the cotton candy sky.

June Callwood Park: This is a good spot for Instagram influencers who are great with editing photos…for normal families/tourists? Not so much. Just a small pink setup of a mini-maze. Here’s my best attempt at editing a picture at it.

Vog Vault: This place is actually a shoe store! The employees are so nice and helpful. The room for this photo is small and straight ahead when you walk in. Pro tip: Ask an employee to borrow an actual book to hold on to while taking the picture. Makes it even more eccentric!

Lavelle: This is a rooftop bar, reminded me of several in Chicago. Loved the view, the furniture’s aesthetic, and the photo opportunities. Try to find a less crowded time so you can snag a fun photo on their little pool side beds or the glass wall corners.

Kensington Market/Chinatown: My family stopped here for lunch. It’s a great place to get souvenirs and marketplace food.

Sweet Jesus Ice Cream Shop: I saw this place when I was looking up Toronto photos on Instagram and the ice-cream looked delicious! They have a unique soft cake crumb coating on their delicious flavors. I got the one with raspberry and red velvet. Protip: My family of 4 could barely finish sharing one regular size bowl of ice-cream. Do yourself (and your wallet) a favor and order the small!

CN Tower/Edgewalk Experience: My brother always finds a way to do something scary or adrenaline-filled in a new city, and here in Toronto it was to do the Edgewalk: the world’s highest full-circle hands-free walk. We donned our harnesses, went up 116 stories high, and the instructors guided us to LEAN OUT OVER THE CN TOWER. Message me if you’d like more information on this experience! I wore sunglasses in the photo to mask the fear in my eyes.

Canada Sign: Iconic Canada sign right by the CN Tower. As expected, there is a line to take your photo here.

Toronto Railway Heritage Center: My father loves trains & railroads, and somehow as if by magic, we always end up finding something railroad related on our trips. Here’s a picture of him, in complete excitement and happiness, talking to my brother about trains.

Harborfront Centre: One of the last things we did was visit the Harborfront Centre and take in the lovely view by the water.

Toronto Raptors Stadium: The Toronto Rapters are the 2019 NBA Champions, it was so fun walking by their signs all over the city.

If we had more time, I would have also liked to visit:

· Polson Pier Skyline View

· Distillery District

· Casa Loma

· Bata Shoe Museum

· Graffiti Alley

So much to see and experience! I guess this just means I have to go back soon – who wants to join?!

Miss Windy City 2019: Competing with the Miss America 2.0 Format

January 8, 2019

While the time between Christmas and New Year’s is usually one of relaxation, social gatherings with old friends, and simply unwinding, I decided to go the opposite route: trained and competed in the Miss Chicago/Miss Windy City 2019 competition on December 29th.

For those of you who don’t know my background, my involvement with the Miss America Organization began at the age of 17 when I placed first runner up for the state teen title as Miss Northern Suburbs’ Outstanding Teen 2012. After aging up to the Miss division I held the titles of Miss Gold Coast 2016 and Miss Northern Suburbs 2017. All of those were great experiences so I always figured I would keep competing until I age out.

And then 2017/2018 happened. With all the changes in the organization, I was hesitant and apprehensive about competing again. Although I loved the idea of the new changes and competition format, I honestly thought being too used to the old format for the past six years would be a disadvantage in competing.

Well, after competing in the 2.0 formatted local, I can honestly tell you that it was wonderful. Here are my biggest takeaways.

Happy Diwali!

November 12, 2018

I challenged my mom Gauri Jog to choreograph and record this dance with me ten minutes before our guests arrived for Diwali dinner. It is such a pretty song! “Nainowale Ne” from the movie Padmaavat.

It is always so much fun to perform with my mom. We will be posting more dance videos soon!

Wishing all of you and your families a very happy Diwali!

9 Best Email Newsletters to Wake Up To

October 30, 2018

It’s 2018 – there’s no excuse to not stay informed and educated about what’s going on in our world. One of my favorite ways to stay up to date on news, trends, and inspiring stories is through my morning emails. Of course, it’s a lot of information to digest so I pick and choose which ones to fully read every day, but I wanted to share all the ones I’ve found most useful. Feel free to click on the links to subscribe to them!

What I wake up to:

Here’s a quick list of the 9 awesome newsletters that I start off every morning reading:

1. The Newsette
2. theSkimm
3. The Presidential Daily Brief
4. PRSUIT
5. mindbodygreen
6. Morning Brew
7. Living with Confidence
8. A Note from the Universe
9. Spire & Co (only on Mondays)

~ Further details into each subscription ~

10% Happier by Dan Harris

October 18, 2018

So excited to kick off my Book Club posts, where I’ll be writing reviews of some of the books I’ve been reading this year. I’ve been going through a list of a self-help & meditation books recently, but I have to say that this one is that first one so far to actually resonate with me. Truthfully, my life has changed after reading this book.

Disclaimer: Do not read these reviews until after you have read the book! Spoilers ahead.

The author, Dan Harris, is a TV news anchor from New York City who has been on Good Morning America and Nightline. In this debut novel, he walks us through his discovery of meditation and mindfulness. As a reporter, he was given the role of reporting on faith segments around the world. Through this role he got the chance to meet and interview influential leaders like Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, and the current Dalai Lama.

Harris, like me, was very skeptical about meditation. We all have that voice in our head and frankly it is hard to turn it off, even for a minute. Below I’d like to share some of my favorite quotes from the book.

It was a rigorous brain excercise: rep after rep of trying to tame the runaway train of the mind. The repeated attempt to bring the compulsive thought machine to heel was like holding a live fish in your hands. Wrestling your mind to the ground, repeatedly hauling your attention back to the breath in the face of the inner onslaught required genuine grit. This was a badass endeavor.(page 101)

I feel the same way about meditation. It sounds great in theory, but man it’s difficult to actually do. Plus on top of that, we are all busy individuals. Fitting it into our day along with work, social life, exercise, etc seems almost impossible.

According to Buddha, we have three habitual responses to everything we experience. We want it, we reject it, or we zone out. Mindfulness is a fourth option, a way to view the contents of our mind with a nonjudgemental remove. I found this theory elegant, but utterly unfeasible. (page 104)

The reason I resonated most with this book is because the author is so refreshingly honest. He never preaches, instead he walks us through his thought process while approaching these difficult to understand topics. It was also really neat to be able to read his behind-the-scenes explanations of events that the world simply saw on TV, like when Paris Hilton walked out of an interview with him and also when he had the panic attack live on Good Morning America.

My favorite “lesson” from the book was the one about non-attachment. This is because many times when people start meditating, letting go of external stresses, other people assume that the Zen-ness will cause the said individual to be less ambitious or craving of success. Harris explains how this isn’t the case, with a line from the book saying something like, “I said be simple, not a simpleton.”

Non-attachment to results + self compassion = a supple relentlessness that is hard to match. Push hard, play to win, but don’t assume the fetal position if things don’t go your way. (page 212)

The best example of this to me right now in my life would be applying for a job. Prepare well, use your resources, present your best self…and then let it go when it comes to the results. We cannot control the external factors. Whatever the outcome may be, it’s important to know we gave it our all. On to the next one!

10% Happier was published in 2014, turns out he published a sequel, a how-to guide, last year! I look forward to reading it soon and learning more about his journey.

Thank you for reading this brief review! Message me to chat further if you’ve read the book or are planning to, would love to continue this discussion!