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Tax Tips for Canadian Bloggers

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When I first started blogging, I had so many questions about doing my taxes as a fashion blogger. Am I allowed to claim the outfits I purchase and shoot for the blog as an expense? (Nope!) Do I need to keep all of my paper receipts? (Yup!) Is swag part of my income? (Probably.) If you’re a freelancer, self-employed, or yes, a Canadian blogger, and in need of some tax advice, then this blog post is definitely for you! Here are my top tips for filing taxes and not going crazy in the process.

Get a Receipt Tracker App
Wrangling a year’s worth of paper receipts is my least favourite thing about doing taxes. And while, yes, you do need to keep your paper receipts, organizing them doesn’t have to be an onerous task. There are tons of apps you can download to help you scan, organize, and keep track of your receipts (Neat, Shoeboxed, etc.). And in the meantime, make it a habit to empty out your pockets/purse/wallet of all business-related receipts on a weekly basis and stash them in a box/folder/large zip lock bag, so that they are all in one place when you need them.

Use One Card for All Blog-related Expenses
If you are serious about running your business, then you should try and use a separate credit card for all business-related purchases. I do this, and it makes figuring out my expenses a breeze. I simply download all of my statements in Excel, and the expenses practically calculate themselves. Avoid using cash for business purchases, as you’ll be more likely to forget about those once you’re ready to file. 

Open a Separate Savings Account for Taxes
As a small business owner, you probably don’t have the payroll department to automatically deduct taxes from your income on a bi-weekly basis, but you really should. Avoid the sticker shock of your final tax bill by putting away 30% from each commission/invoice into a separate savings account. This way, you won’t have to stress out about paying your taxes and your bills at the same time. And if your tax bill is less than anticipated, you can celebrate by using the leftover cash on something fun for yourself (or just keeping it in savings if you want to be responsible). 


Hire Experts To Get What’s Yours
The best thing you can do for your sanity and to maximize your refund/minimize what you owe is hiring experts from H&R Block to help you with your taxes, especially if it’s your first time filing as a small business owner. Not only will you get all of your questions answered by someone who actually knows the tax rules and changes, but you’ll get a peace of mind, knowing that an expert prepared your tax return in case you get audited.

Since I’ve been doing my own taxes for a while now, I use the H&R Block online software to file my taxes. There are a lot of super helpful options and features like Auto-Filling your tax info from your CRA My Account (saves me so much time!), Past Return Import, Audit Protection service (if you’re nervous about being audited), lots and lots of helpful hints along the way, and there’s even an Expert Review service (20 or 40 minute phone call to answer any remaining tax questions before you file). I love the simplicity of H&R Block’s online filing software, and it allows me to do my taxes in my own time. I just open the software, and pick up where I left off. You can even see a current vs. prior year tax comparison, to see what amounts have changed from one year to the next. You can choose one of three H&R Block tax software products, with various features included: Free, Assistance ($17.99), and Protection ($27.99). 


Don’t Forget These Deductions
While you can’t claim your outfits as an expense (unless it’s a work uniform that is), you can claim plenty of blog-related expenses, including your cell phone and cell phone bill, domain and web hosting expenses, software used for your business, DIY supplies, photographer fees, even giveaway prizes. I recently wrote a blog post for H&R Block about some dos and don’ts of tax expenses, but you can find a few more you can safely claim below.

  • Domain and Web Hosting Expenses
  • Internet and Cell Phone Fees
  • Laptop, Cell Phone, Camera, Camera Lens, Printer, etc.
  • Home Office Expense
  • Office Supplies and Stationary
  • Blog Design and Templates
  • Software
  • Fonts
  • Stock Photo Fees
  • Giveaway Prizes
  • SEO Services
  • Advertising Expenses
  • Legal and Accounting Fees
  • Business Travel Expenses
  • Business Dining Expenses
  • Props for DIY Projects, Flatlays, Photoshoots
  • Photographer Fees
  • Professional Association Memberships and Subscriptions

Whether you choose to reach out to the experts at H&R Block, learn about a few new deductions, or finally download that app to organize all of your receipts, I hope these tips help you make this tax season as painless as possible, and perhaps even save you money in the process. Let me know if you have any other blog/tax related questions, and I’ll be happy to answer in the comments. Happy Tax Season, everyone!

*This post was created in partnership with H&R Block. All opinions are my own.

Style Blog Travels: #FordConnections at Langdon Hall

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A few days ago le bf and I set off on a mini road trip in a brand new 2017 Ford Edge Titanium as part of the Ford Positive Connections program aimed to help bring people together on Best Friend’s Day (which also happens to be my birthday!) through a fun curated trip. First stop? Toronto Premium Outlets, because what’s a birthday weekend without a little #treatyoself?! With a few purchases from Saks Off 5th, J.Crew and Nike outlets piled up in the trunk, we jumped back into the car, and took the scenic route to Cambridge, Ontario. We drove by parks, farms, and fields, while the cooled leather seats kept us nice and comfortable, and the SYNC 3 system played my fave road trip playlist (mostly BSB, because I obviously have a great taste in music). Before we knew it, we were pulling into the picturesque Langdon Hall.


Since this was le bf’s first time at Langdon Hall, we did a quick tour of the property before settling into some comfy patio chairs with celebratory cocktails. With conversation flowing, the view of Langdon Hall’s main house in front of us, and the soft afternoon light in our faces, it was exactly what we needed after a few hectic weeks of all work and no play in the city. The next day, after a leisurely country table breakfast and a little R&R time by the pool, we packed our bags, checked out of our beautiful room and headed to Downtown Cambridge.

Back in town, we discovered that Cambridge was one of the filming locations for the Hulu show The Handmaid’s Tale (a current fave!). The bridge where the protest scene was filmed, the infamous hanging wall – both are super recognizable and we were so excited to have unexpectedly stumbled upon it. Needless to say, we were totally geeking out. After taking a million photos, we walked over to the nearby auto show, drooling over the vintage Ford Mustangs from the 60s and 70s (next year’s birthday present, perhaps?). We grabbed a couple of delicious Portuguese donuts from Malasada World, and hit the road.


The ride back to Toronto felt quick and easy, and since we had our Ford SUV for the weekend, we drove it from the house to Bar Isabel for yet another birthday celebration. It handled beautifully in the city, just like it did in the countryside. Le bf especially loved the car’s Personal Safety System that alerted us whenever another car was moving nearby unsafely, which came in handy a few times in the busy downtown Toronto. My favourite Ford Edge feature was definitely the cooled front seats – perfect if you like to drive with windows down, while keeping the rest of your body nice and cool.

Once the weekend came to an end and it was time to say good-bye to “our” Ford, I felt a little sad but very thankful for a lovely weekend of re-connecting with le bf and exploring new places together. I guess it’s never too soon to start planning our next road trip this summer! 





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Playing Now: Netflix Dinner Party feat. Yours Truly

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Last month, in a surreal turn of events, I filmed something really fun with Netflix. It wasn’t an actual TV show, but Netflix did build us a set, filmed us with 4 different cameras, and made us feel like the stars that we aren’t.

The premise of the Netflix Dinner Party was simple – our gracious host Andrew Dobson of Dobbernation Loves invited a few friends over for yummy bites and dishy conversation – unscripted and raw. We chatted about our fave Netflix shows like The Crown, Grace and Frankie, Riverdale, Stranger Things, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Santa Clarita Diet, and Orange is the New Black, all while enjoying delicious food, and sipping beer through straws (ridiculous, I know…but lipstick stayed on and that’s all that matters!). We discussed pressing issues like “what would your dream vibrator look like?”, “who would you invite to your royal wedding?”, and “how would you kill your zombie boyfriend?”…After watching the zombie episode, le bf was extra nice to me all week…perhaps because of how quickly I answered that question? Either way, he shouldn’t worry as long as he doesn’t start exhibiting zombie-like symptoms. In other news, my Putin statue went mysteriously missing.

Anyway, now that all 7 mini episodes are available, I thought I’d share them here. Hope you enjoy watching these as much as we enjoyed filming them. If you only choose to watch one…I suggest the “Dream Vibrator” epi, so that you can watch Jonathan say “Netflix and Drill” with a straight face.

Let me know what you think in the comments!


More after the jump!
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Travel: 5 Things To Do in Lisbon

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As I am starting to plan my travels for 2017, I look back on our most memorable trip of 2016 to Portugal. To tell you the truth, I went with low expectations, but at the end of the day, I ended up falling in love with the beautiful country, its people, food, and crafts. Compared to a lot of other European countries, Portugal is still very affordable, so if you are looking for a new place to visit this year, I suggest you add Portugal to your itinerary. Today’s post is about beautiful Lisbon and some of the places you can visit while there. A post about my Algarve faves is coming soon.

1. Eat

Lisbon’s foodie scene was definitely a pleasant surprise. Nearly every single meal we had during our trip was a smash hit. There’s a plethora of delicious options at the admittedly touristy Time Out Market; the Piri Piri chicken from the Miguel Laffan stall was my personal favourite, but other restaurants were great too according to my friends and fellow travellers (just watch out for aggressive table stealers).

For a fresh take on ceviche, A Cevicheria is a must-visit. You won’t be impressed with the quantity of food at this tiny resto, but you will certainly love every bite.


For creative sushi, make sure to stop by Sushic (original or at Palacio Chiado). We ate there twice, trying various chef’s platters, gorging on buttery tuna tataki, and other delicious seafood. Just make sure to avoid the Tom Yum soup – it’s overpriced and totally not worth it. There are other options to try at Palacio Chiado (more hit and miss), but I’d recommend it for a quick casual lunchtime stop.

Fabulas is another great lunch spot with a charming patio, and a menu full of freshly-prepared Portuguese specialties like the super delicate codfish cakes. Despite its central location, this place is definitely not a tourist trap. Also, once they run out of a certain dish, they won’t make more, so go early.

As much as we wanted to make it to Pasteis de Belem to try their iconic pastries, we weren’t able to make it there this time, but we did make up for it at Manteigaria. Obviously, we can’t compare the two, but out of all the pasteis de nata that we’ve tried on this trip, the flaky, freshly baked custard tarts from Manteigaria were by far the yummiest.


If you’re craving a sweet cold treat, whatever you do, do not go to Amorino – it’s just not worth the calories. Go to Mu or Santini instead – their gelato is so much better! Also, paletas from PizPireto are incredible! We randomly found their amazing paletas at a gourmet store near A Cevicheria, but apparently they also have a shop just outside of central Lisbon.

For traditional Portuguese steak and chips, a couple of locals highly recommended Solar Dos Presuntos. And while I loved my steak, this place got mixed reviews from the rest of our group (they found it too pricey and not particularly memorable), so read other reviews before you go. Honestly though, I don’t think we had a bad food experience in Lisbon (apart from terrible gelato at Amorino and mediocre pastries at A Padaria Portuguesa).
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Giveaway: Mixed Feeding Care Package For Your Furry Friend

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Sponsored Post
A month ago, I introduced my cat Pepper to mixed feeding. Instead of feeding him one or the other, we let Pepper have both wet and dry food every day. After learning about the health and nutritional benefits that mixed feeding offers, the decision was a no-brainer, and of course, Pepper was happy about the variety of flavours and textures.

Getting started was easy – in addition to wet food twice a day, we added a small bowl of dry food at night. We also switched to Whiskas Perfect Portions wet cat food, which helped us make sure that Pepper’s food is always fresh. Perfect Portions was a great choice for us, since the main ingredient is always a protein like fish, chicken, or beef, and the packs are super convenient to use.

We hoped that mixed feeding and Perfect Portions would help Pepper lose a bit of excess weight, and things were going great for the first few weeks…until we went on vacation. Two weeks later, we came back to find a much plumper Pepper, all thanks to le bf’s mom spoiling him with “all you can eat” buffet of food. Despite this little setback, I’m sure that we’ll get Pepper back on track by using the adorable measuring cup I picked up for dry food, and Perfect Portions wet food. And thanks to mixed feeding, I know he’ll be getting the best nutrition possible along the way. And because Pepper is a generous cat, we partnered up with Whiskas to give away one amazing mixed feeding care package, full of delicious food and toys for your furry best friend. Enter the giveaway after the jump!
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Mixed Feeding Your Pet With Whiskas

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Sponsored Post

If you’ve been following this site for a while, you already know that I’m a proud cat lady. A couple of years ago, I wrote about adopting my cat Pepper; he’s been with me for 9 years now, and is a very important member of our family. When we first brought Pepper home, dry kibble was our choice of cat food – mostly because it seemed like the most convenient choice – dry food is easy to put out and won’t make your house smell like cat food. After a couple of years, I learned about health issues that male cats can develop from eating exclusively dry food (urethral obstruction for one), and we quickly switched him to wet food. Pepper was more than happy to switch to wet food…perhaps a bit too much, as he steadily gained weight and grew a rather sizeable belly. So when we were invited to participate in the Mixed Feeding program, I was really excited for Pepper to try the new food and see if we can help him lose a bit of weight in the process.

Over the next few weeks, we will feed Pepper both wet and dry food using Whiskas Perfect Portions and Whiskas Meaty Selections, as feeding both types of cat food offers a more nutritionally balanced and complete diet. Dry food is a concentrated energy source, and its crunchy texture helps maintain pets’ oral health, while wet food’s high moisture content supports proper organ function and a healthy urinary tract. Together, I hope that this diet will provide Pepper with the best nutrition and help him lose a bit of excess weight.

Stay tuned on Twitter for progress updates!

More about the benefits of wet and dry food after the jump!
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Valentine’s Day: Yorkdale Love Stories Giveaway

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It may be frigid and snowy outside, but love is in the air! With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, my fellow Yorkdale Style Council member Julio and I are sharing our personal love stories with you. And we want you to do the same!

Because here at Yorkdale we are so in love with love, we are excited to announce an amazing giveaway for all the lovebirds out there! Share your love story on Yorkdale.com (comment section of THIS post), and you’ll be entered to win TWO $250 Yorkdale gift cards – one for you and one for your love! Sounds good? Don’t forget to enter before February 13th!

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Nelia and Rob

How we met
Nelia: The way Rob and I met is a little crazy, and really made me believe in destiny (STOP ROLLING YOUR EYES!). Fresh out of university, I turned down an interview with one financial institution as I had already accepted an offer elsewhere. But after a couple of weeks of training, I realized that the type of work they had to offer just wasn’t for me, so I called the HR person at the company I turned down, who was very understanding and booked me in for an interview. Rob was the person who interviewed me. It’s going to sound crazy, but for me, it was love at first sight…or maybe attraction at first sight, but I just felt that spark. After the interview, I considered asking Rob out and declining the job offer, but at the end of the day, I ended up accepting it and chickening out on the whole “ask him out” thing. Within the first week at my new job, I got transferred out of Rob’s team and he was no longer my boss…phew! We became friends and nearly a year after that interview he asked me out, and we’ve been together ever since. If I hadn’t changed my mind about that job, and stayed at the first company, we may have never even met. Feels like it was meant to be.

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Ditto
Nelia: While on vacation in San Francisco, we spent a beautiful day exploring the city. Spring flowers were blooming, the sun was shining and I still remember that feeling of pure joy all day long. We’ve been together for nearly a year at that point, and during dinner, Rob looked at me and said “I love you”…I was so nervous, I mumbled “ditto” in return, but could obviously tell that it wasn’t the answer he was hoping for. Truth is, I’ve never actually said “I love you” to a boyfriend before Rob, so it felt like a huge deal to me at the time. The next day, as we were getting ready for another day of fun, I finally got up the courage to say “I love you” properly. To this day, “ditto” is the way I tell Rob that I love him too.

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Julio and Daniel

How we met
Daniel: Julio and I are a testament to romance in the age of social media. We actually met on Instagram via a mutual friend. I asked him out via Twitter DM. We always laugh when we tell people our story because no one believes us at first!
Julio: We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary on February 1st. Daniel likes to argue that our anniversary is earlier, but February 1st stuck with some encouragement aka my decision.

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Instagram Engagement
Daniel: Well, being that I am the biggest hopeless romantic it had to be epic. I planned out the perfect day for Julio to make sure he got the engagement he deserved. I bought his favourite Tiffany’s Ring that he had always wanted, brought our photographer down to Toronto. Since we met on Instagram, I decided that I would propose via the platform as well at the first place we ever met in person. So at 11:27am (1 year to the minute from when I first asked him out) via Instagram (how we met), at Dupont Subway Station (the first place we saw each other face to face) I asked him to marry me. And lucky for me, he said yes!

More after the jump!
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Rewind 2014: A Year in Photos

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It’s official…2014 is out, 2015 is in! But before we move on to all things new and exciting, I wanted to do a little revisiting, in part to look back on the wonderful year that 2014 was, and in part to have this post for posterity, and in case I ever need a reminder of some awesome things I did last year. If you hate those “me, me, me” posts, then this one may not be for you. Sorry (not really).

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2014 started out pretty well for me, unlike 2013 (credit card fraud galore!), I kicked off the year with a brand new video segment I created in partnership with Yorkdale and Max Kopanygin, called Styled By Nelia. Since January, we shot 9 segments, with 9 amazing retailers, and plan to shoot lots more in 2015. Since I truly hate to be on video, this was a huge challenge for me, but I got more and more comfortable with every episode we shot…and hope to get a little better with each video going forward.

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In February, I had the pleasure of participating in a photoshoot for eLUXE’s Spring 2014 lookbook, featuring Canadian bloggers. And as I will find out later, this will not be the last collab with eLUXE that I would shoot in 2014.


At the beginning of 2014, I also go to test out the Olay Regenerist Luminous skincare line, with beautiful results. Freckles, be gone!
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When Pepper Met Nelly – My Personal Pet Adoption Story

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If you follow me on Instagram, you must be very familiar with Pepper, my adorable and slightly fat black cat. Pepper has been in my life for over 7 years now, and every single morning, I get out of bed with a smile thanks to his furry face purring next to me. And while most of his life, he’s been spoiled and treated like feline royalty, he wasn’t always the pampered cat that he is today.

On my 23rd birthday, a friend and I made our way to an animal shelter in Toronto. My cat Scratch passed away a couple of years before that, and I finally felt ready for another pet in my life. As we walked through the shelter, we saw many animals in need of loving homes…it crushed me. I wanted to adopt every single one of them, but I knew that I had to choose one. After looking for a while, I noticed a tiny black kitten in a cage, and went to take a closer look. He sneezed a lot and looked weak, and as I picked him up and looked into his adorable kitten face I knew that Ethenol Pepper and I would be fast friends. After filling out adoption papers, Pepper came home with me, and has been part of my family ever since.

A while ago I read a piece of research that claimed that pet owners are happier people, and I truly believe this. While my husband and I were looking for a house, and Pepper had to live with my mom, I missed him like crazy. I missed his head-butts, I missed picking him up and having him purr into my ear after a long and stressful day at work, I missed playing fetch with him; I even missed errant toilet paper wrapped around his food bowl. Now that we are reunited again, I can’t tell you just how much joy this ball of fur brings to my life on a daily basis. Even my husband, the self-professed dog person, is now on team Pepper. These days I can often find the two happily snoozing on the couch together, Pepper on Rob’s belly, looking like he owns the place.

There’s no doubt that Pepper has a great life, but not all animals are this lucky. Every day, hundreds of beautiful animals at shelters across the country are in need of permanent loving homes. There are puppies, kittens, and of course, grown cats and dogs, waiting to be rescued…even pure breeds! And once you’ve been to a shelter, you know just how important it is to adopt animals instead of buying them.

Beginning November 1 and until December 31st, the Ontario SCPA will be running the iAdopt for the Holidays adoption drive which aims to change the lives of orphaned animals, and raise awareness about the importance of pet adoption during the holiday season. If you’ve been thinking about bringing a pet home this holiday season, I urge you to consider pet adoption.

If you’re not sure what type of dog or cat to adopt, you can use Link to Meet Your Match survey tool, which helps evaluate an animal’s personality and behavior and matches them to an adopter’s preferences so they can take home a pet they can really click with.

So if you are ready to bring a furry friend home, please, please, please visit your local shelter, and participate in the iAdopt for the Holidays program. Not only will you be saving a pet’s life, but you will also be enriching your own in many wonderful ways. And once your pet goes home with you, another will be able to take its spot at the shelter, giving another animal a chance at a happy life.

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Read more pet adoption stories and share your own on iAdopt.ca!

This post was brought to you by the Ontario SPCA. All opinions are my own.

What I Wore: This is 30

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First of all, I apologize for the million photos in this post. Most of them feature my love affair with the Eiffel Tower from various angles and I just couldn’t narrow them down. Sorry (not sorry). With that said, this is what I wore on my first day of being thirty.

While in my early twenties, thirty-somethings seemed practically ancient to my silly young self, but I am happy to report that I don’t feel different, even though I am no longer the youngest person in the room. I also didn’t suffer too much anxiety over the big 3-0…after all, I consider myself extremely lucky to have a wonderful husband, supportive family, great friends, and of course, this little blog. Growing up, I used to make those “before 30” lists, which included “swim with the dolphins” (done!), “skydive” (nope), “graduate” (yup), “get MBA” (not yet), “open an RRSP account” (check!), “visit the Amalfi Coast” (3 times), among many other cool/cliche/silly/important/unimportant tasks. And while I definitely haven’t checked off every item off those lists, I don’t feel like I let myself down because I didn’t complete them by the time I left my twenties. That just means I’ll have fun accomplishing them in my thirties.

Having said all that, entering a new decade wasn’t a daunting prospect for me. Back home, each new decade is welcomed with lots of fanfare and celebration, and so in that tradition, I also made quite a big deal about my birthday this year (according to le bf) and decided to jet off to Paris and the South of France to celebrate. And while I’ll have more travel posts coming, this is what I wore on my actual birthday.

That day, le bf and I wandered aimlessly around Paris (mostly around the Eiffel Tower, as you can see), enjoying the views, stopping in at random cafes for a drink, savouring a delightful lunch at Laduree, and a delicious dinner at Shangri-La Paris, wrapping up our night with an impressive Disney Dreams! show at Disneyland Paris. It was a sticky hot day, we walked so much, our feet were buzzing, my hair and makeup were a huge mess by the time dinner time rolled around, but we didn’t care – nothing could spoil this imperfectly perfect day. That night, I went to bed with a huge grin on my face…yes, I may be getting older, but the adventures along the way make it totally worth a wrinkle or ten. Bring it on, thirties!

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WHAT I WORE

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