Claire @ Eleventh Avenue, Author at Eleventh Avenue

In travel April 20, 2022

A Beginner’s Guide to Hostels

With restrictions lifting and many borders starting to open up again, I bet we’re all itching to travel and see the world again. We’ve all heard about hostels and how cheap they are. You’ve probably seen the movie Hostel and avoided it like a plague. You probably have friends that stayed in a hostel for a few nights. Regardless, hostels provide travellers affordable accommodation for one night or their entire duration of the vacation. For many, hostels are not the first choice of accommodation, mainly because they’re not familiar with or hold untrue beliefs about hostels. When I first considered staying at a hostel, I was a little apprehensive about sharing rooms with a bunch of strangers, especially in washrooms.…

In lifestyle January 12, 2022

Hello 2022!

I was hesitant in writing this entry because I wanted to try something new this year and not jump on the “new year, new blog” wagon anymore. But the more I sat on this, the more I want to share my priorities and mini goals this year as a way to be brutally honest and open with my blog and readers… after all, this blog is meant to be a personal lifestyle blog! Every year for the past decade or so, I remember writing goals down. At that time, I didn’t learn about writing proper goals so a lot of my goals were quite vague and essentially, unattainable. As I started to learn more about proper goal writing and SMART…

In fashion January 3, 2022

How to be Fashionably Sustainable on a Budget | Conscious Fashion on a Budget

Conscious fashion, slow fashion, sustainable fashion – however you want to call it, you might have felt this may be too expensive for you to start diving into. When I first started to get into conscious fashion, I was bookmarking the top sustainable and ethical brands out there and told myself these are the brands I will shop at moving forward. As much as I really wanted to support sustainable and ethical fashion, my salary at that time wasn’t able to support slow fashion. It was hard for me to consider these brands when I knew my budget was only good for H&M and Shein. So what did I do? I continued to support fast fashion and told myself, I’d…

In finances November 3, 2021

Money Diary of a 28 Years Old HR Generalist | October 2021

On my previous blog, this series has always been a crowd favourite. There’s something fun about seeing how others spend their money, right? I know I’m a big fan of Millennial Money on YouTube and Money Diaries from Refinery29. As a big fan, I feel I should do my part and share my money diary. I used to do this on a weekly basis but found it too overwhelming so I dropped down to a monthly diary instead. When I share my money diaries, I also don’t include my mortgage or student loan payments or how much I contribute to my investments but I’m considering including mortgage and student loan repayments in the future! Perhaps, in my 2022 diaries? Without…

In lifestyle October 20, 2021

28 Things I’ve Learned in 28 Years

Today is my birthday. I’m astonished (and weirded out) that I’m close to leaving my 20s! When I was a kid, I never understood why adults always say “where did the time go?”. I get it now. I really do! Just the other day, I reflected back on my “early 20s” and can’t believe so much has changed since then. Time does move fast and each year is a new year to achieve something – regardless if it’s small. Today, to celebrate my 28th birthday with you all, I want to share 28 things I’ve learned in life thus far. I’ve always enjoyed these entries because it allows me to get a glimpse of how others grew up. My list…

In entertainment October 13, 2021

Reviewing 8 Top True Crime Podcasts (October 2021)

I’m a huge fan of true crime. Not sure how or where it started, but I loooove a good true crime book and podcasts. Am I the only one that enjoys cleaning the kitchen while learning about how Bob murdered a family of 6? There are so many seasoned and new true crime podcasts that sometimes, it’s very difficult to know where to start. In the spirit of Halloween and spoOoky~~~~ season, I’d love to share my reviews on some of the top true crime podcasts and which are my top five! *Disclaimer – when I review these podcasts, I always start from the first episode. I truly believe if the first episode can capture you in, then the rest…