Talia Devora
Bio
Poetess, entrepreneur, visual artist, DIY lover, recreation and leisure enthusiast, history buff, and a foreign language addict!
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Stories (408)
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The Young at Heart
How I became a Fangelic (aka Venus Angelic fan).......... In my first year of college, I started watching more and more YouTube videos that were related to lifestyle, culture and travel after randomly watching one of Taylor R's videos of her teacup poodle Rosie. That was not the only video I watched of Taylor R and her poodle Rosie. For the next six months of post-secondary, I became a fan of Taylor R who was also interested in Japanese culture, Kawaii-inspired fashion, spoke, read and wrote Japanese and made anime-inspired videos at one point in her YouTube career. Those videos were released from 2014-2015 which was way before I entered college. In 2017, I randomly binge watched-her videos while she was residing in Japan at the time.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Geeks
Come and Experience Jewish Culture with Me!. Top Story - September 2020.
When I was growing up, my family treasured the traditional Jewish culture. My dad is a religious worker at our local synagogue and my mom is an operations manager at a first aid warehouse. Despite the differences in their occupations, my family still cherishes the Jewish cuisine and would eat the food at any time of the year, even if it wasn't a special occasion or Shabbat. During my youth, I would spend Shabbat evenings and days at my dad's house and he would always make or purchase Jewish dishes like Cholent (a beef and beans stew with potatoes and vegetables), Potato Kugel (a potato casserole), Herring (which I abhor), Blintzes (Stuffed Pancakes), Bagels with Lox and Cream Cheese, Vegetable Latkes (Fried Vegetable Fritters) and Kasha with Fried Onions and Noodles (aka Buckwheat with Fried Onions and Noodles) for my brother, our friends, family and myself to feast on. My dad always bought Challah (braided egg bread) from the Kosher bakery or local supermarket: he never baked Challah. Occasionally, my mom would make potato, zucchini and carrot latkes for Hanukkah parties and has concocted the occasional pot of Cholent for when hosted casual gatherings with friends and family at her house.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Feast
The Corona Diaries #3
THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING CONNECTED DURING THE PANDEMIC: Humans thrive with social connection and physical contact. The increased risk of community transmission prevented people from attending social events and having physical contact with loved ones, unless they were already living in the same household. People from all over the world were struggling with this new guideline of social distancing with people outside of your household. To increase recreation involvement and socialization, we needed to be dependent on platforms such as Zoom. Even though places like the community centres and libraries were closed for in-person events and activities, they were still able to connect with each other virtually. Families and friends were encouraged to host virtual birthday parties, social events and weekly casual gatherings on Messenger or Zoom, as restaurants, bars, fitness clubs and amusement centres were closed to the public. Public events such as the Canada Day celebration and the annual Pride Parade had to occur online as opposed to at a public park or in a district such as downtown Toronto.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Humans
The Good Ol' Freddie Highmore Days
How it all started......... We're going back to the 2000's baby! I grew up in the 2000's and have watched so many awesome flicks with so many talented child actors and actresses. I have so many favourites, so it's impossible for me to just pick one. Many of my favourite child actors are male, but I have a few that are female such as AnnaSophia Robb. After watching quite a few British movies from the mid-2000's, I finally figured out who my celebrity crush was. He was not your typical punk or dude that would be seen walking on the streets in large silver necklace, the silky comb-over haircut, big baggy jeans and a t-shirt. The child actor that became my celebrity crush was British child actor Freddie Highmore, who played in several American films like August Rush (2007), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) and the British movie Five Children and It (2004). As a child, I used to imagine myself and him being best friends.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Geeks
The Corona Diaries #2
WHAT WERE SOME OF THE THINGS I DID TO KEEP MY MIND AND BODY OCCUPIED DURING QUARANTINE? Since I knew that I was going to spend the majority of my free time indoors, I had to think of what I had to keep me busy while hibernating in my apartment. The night before quarantine began, my mom and I ordered a bunch of diamond painting kits from Amazon as we were enjoying a family meal at the diner. There are always things to keep myself busy in my apartment, but I needed more preparation to put me at ease.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Lifehack
The Corona Diaries #1
MARCH 15 2020- THE DAY BEFORE QUARANTINE It was a typical Sunday before the mandated lockdown began. It was a cool, crisp and sunny pre-spring afternoon in Toronto. Since I wanted to enjoy my last day of community freedom, I booked an Uber to take me to my waxing appointment. I chose to spend the day out of my building, because I knew that I was going to be obligated to stay in for the next three months. So I took my usual day trip to Steeles and Bathurst to shop, stroll around in nature, relax and do a couple of errands. Than there was an evening out for dinner to be excited about.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Longevity
My Free Virtual Art Gallery
Hey my friends! I hope you are doing well. Before and during the pandemic, I have done lots of fun and creative things to keep my mind and body occupied. One of the creative activities I have done was visual arts. Visual art has always been a way for me to freely express my thoughts, emotions and personality. I am always open to trying new styles and forms of arts and crafts, but I have specific favourites that I practice more than others such as photography, painting, sketching/doodling, rug hooking, diamond painting and knitting. I have been doing complex types of crafts since I was thirteen and then became interested in photography as an adult. Since I have been eager to show all of my Vocal friends the different art pieces I have made, I decided to have a free permanent virtual art gallery. I will be showing you some of my favourite art pieces and photographs I have made and hope you like some of them!
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Lifehack
Healthy Eating and Enjoyment
Hello my Vocal friends! I hope you are having a good day so far. Since my transition to independent living in the summer of 2018, I started learning about nutrition and exploring unique and wholesome junk food replacements. I made a promise to myself that I was going to start looking after my health and wellbeing, but it was not going to be something I would fix overnight or in two weeks. As I have explained in one of my previous recipe blogs, I will relapse after trying to deprive myself of sugar for a day of two. In order for me to be consistent with my diet, I can’t have the "it's bad or it's good" mindset, but rather eat things in moderation and allowing myself to have the odd binge. The SlimFast diet is the most effective diet for me compared to the Ketogenic, Paleo, Vegan or Atkins diets. I want to enjoy all of my favourites while managing my sugar and carbohydrate intake.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Feast
Piglet's Diner
Fall of 1986 in Flower Pot, New York On a gloomy Tuesday night, four high school truants discover the coolest thing ever- a family-operated 24/7 restaurant called Piglet's Diner. During their neighbourhood stroll at 2 am, Ben hears his all-time favourite song playing loudly from the diner. His friends Wendy, Emily and Tom want to visit the local liquor store to grab a few bottles of lager and visit the little parkette two blocks away from the diner. On the other hand, Ben is craving a juicy, all-beef cheeseburger with crispy french fries, black coffee and a pink, melt-in-your-mouth strawberry cheesecake milkshake, but also wants an alcoholic drink of some kind. McDonalds is closed for the night. The other local 24/7 diners and eateries are too expensive. So what's next on the list? Ben suggests that him and his pals visit Piglet's for a bite to eat, since his aunt Poppy and uncle Wilbur are the owners of the diner. They all agree to tag along. Uncle Wilbur and Aunt Poppy happily greet their first midnight customers as the teens enter the vibrant, 50's style eatery.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Families
How To Entertain Yourselves At Home
Hello my Vocal friends! I hope you are having a splendid day today! Home is a great place! Some people like to stay home more than others, and that's perfectly fine! Some people love to go out and explore the world around them, and that is also very good! However, circumstances such as the weather, our personal matters, mental or physical illnesses, high levels of crime in your area or a public health crisis (e.g. The Coronavirus Pandemic) can determine how often we stay at home. Staying in one place for prolonged periods of time can get boring, so we need to find things to do to keep ourselves busy and feel good at the same time!
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Lifehack
High Protein and Dairy Free Apple Pie Smoothie Recipe
Throughout my SlimFast journey, I am constantly coming up with unique smoothie creations. If I have the same flavour every day, I always get tired of it and then I will not want to stay on track. The typical fruity flavours like strawberry-banana, blueberry and strawberry are delicious, but they can get boring from time to time. There are days when I crave more baked goods than others, but I want to continue losing weight and looking after my wellbeing. I have finally found a solution to reduce my urges to go for that doughnut or cheesecake brownie at the local bakery!
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Feast
Musical Decades: The Best of the 90’s
The year of 1997 was when I entered the beautiful world. Not only was the 90's the generation I was born in. The 90's was an interesting generation in which technology was gradually developing and genres like rap and hip hop became popular among teenagers and young adults. As a child growing up in the 2000's, I would become exposed to the most well-known 90's hits and listen to them regularly. My family always kept CD's in the house and in the car. One of the CD's that I recall my mother keeping in her car was a CD with a collection of popular 90's dance and rock hits. My brother and I loved listening to the songs while we were in the car. Some of the songs that were on the CD's were songs that I would dance to during flagpole, which was a morning event in which kids and counsellors would gather and dance on the field before athe camp day started. Throughout my youth, I continued to listen and dance to 90's music, regardless of the genre of what other kids were listening to. As an adult, I still admire all the rap, techno, rock, alternative, heavy metal, hip hop and indie hits from the 90's.
By Talia Devora5 years ago in Beat
