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School for Bloggers: Book Keeping (#BlissdomCA)

Brian Kent-Baas at #BlissdomCA

I am home from work today with a sick child. She just finally fell into a much-needed nap on the sofa, so I thought I'd finally catch up on this series of posts I wanted to do from my trip to the Blissdom Canada conference. You can read the first post here, and this is the second one.  There’s no formal training to become a blogger. You teach yourself what you can and you learn from other more experienced members of the blogging community. … [Read more...]

The Dining Table is Finished! The Dining Table is Finished!

Dining table showing the base

Back in April, I had told you about Hubby's plans to build a dining table. We wanted something BIG ... big enough to host our whole family easily at any time. And he has a strong affection for modern, crisp clean lines. It was a labour of love my friends, but it is now complete and I am thrilled! It is over 9 feet in length, so we'll be able to have 10-12 people around it for sure. After the jump, you can check out some more photos. … [Read more...]

It’s Monday. Let’s Do a Giveaway, Shall We? Enjoy a Visit to Ottawa’s Terra20!

Daniel Thompson Beauty at Terra20

So, yesterday, I started to tell you about my visit to the Ottawa store Terra20. My goal was to go in to the store and learn a bit more about commonly used chemicals in cosmetics, try out some of Terra20's safer cosmetic brands, and then share it all with you. At the Terra20 store, like most other large department stores, you are welcome to come in and receive a complimentary makeover. I've done this before at other makeup counters ... … [Read more...]

Terra20, Gillian Deacon, and My Cosmetics Quest

Gillian Deacon and Julie Harrison

In my quest to learn more about what chemicals are in my cosmetics, I took a second visit to Ottawa's new eco-store Terra20 this past weekend. Gillian Deacon, who wrote Green for Life and There's Lead in Your Lipstick, was scheduled to be in the store to autograph books and to chat with store visitors. As soon as I walked in, I thought: Where have I seen her before? Take a look at this photo and see if you have the same reaction: So, it … [Read more...]

It’s Friday, Friends. Let’s Blame it on the Rain!

Cocktail Deeva

This Friday's music inspiration goes out the fabulooous Ms. Cocktail Deeva, who dressed up as Boy George for the annual costume party at Blissdom Canada. Despite looking EXACTLY like him, people were asking her if she was Pippy Longstocking or perhaps Jack Sparrow -- they were too young to know who Boy George was!!! ... Gah!! ... which meant only one thing, right? That she (and I!) and our Cotton Ginny slouch socks were getting a little … [Read more...]

The Year’s Jack-o-lantern: Untitled

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So, usually, we have some kind of theme running throughout the year. One year it was Pokemons, another year it was the Angler Fish. But this year? Nothing ... nadda. Hubby and I are running on empty (and yet, we are still running at full speed!). The result is that this year's jack-o-latern is .... well, it's called "Untitled." Sometimes life just works out that way, but that doesn't mean it isn't pretty darn good anyhow, right? … [Read more...]

It’s Monday. Let’s do a Giveaway, Shall We? Create A Blurb Photo Book!

Blurb Photo Books Look Gorg!

I suspect that many of you are like me ... with their children's photos sitting around as electronic files on a variety of devices -- phones, tablets, laptops. Digital photography has its reams of benefits, but it makes me cringe just thinking about all the unorganized photos I have hidden in every electronic device I own. … [Read more...]

A Rainy Day at Saunders Farm

@coffeewithjulie Saunders Farm

Saunders Farm is a bit of an "must do" experience in these parts. While our family almost always makes a visit during the Christmas season to pick a tree, the Fall Festival is actually the Farm's most popular time of year. This festival has been running for 21 years and during this season Saunders Farms has up to 165 employees on board to help make it happen. Despite the rainy day, we made the drive out to Saunders Farm yesterday and met up … [Read more...]

What Guidance Would You Give to An Algonquin College Student on Online Identity and Career Advancement?

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The last time I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at Algonquin College, I asked you what advice you would give to a student soon to be graduating from the Advertising program. I thought that the comments that came in were really valuable, so I'd like to do a repeat performance. Today, I'll be speaking to a class that is in a business stream (as opposed to a creative stream) in the Advertising and Marketing Communications Management … [Read more...]

School for Bloggers: Vlogging (#BlissdomCA)

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There's no formal training to become a blogger. You teach yourself what you can and you learn from other more experienced members of the blogging community. That's why blogging events are such a big deal in our world -- we get to connect with our community in a face-to-face way and we also get to learn more about this crazy craft called blogging. I just attended one of this "big deal" events -- Blissdom Canada -- over the past weekend (I … [Read more...]

Bullying and Rhetoric

Worried Young Woman Using Laptop At Home

Today, I'm a guest blogger over on Annie Urban's PhD in Parenting. Annie and I like each a lot despite butting heads on a number of issues. But that's precisely the point -- we both understand (and have a strong respect for) the importance of debate and discussion. Otherwise, we end up in rhetoric territory. … [Read more...]

Thinking about Breast Cancer Awareness: The Good, the Bad, and the Pink

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And all around us and in my in-box are generous corporations looking to help raise awareness about breast cancer by promoting their pink-coloured products. But wait. Were you not aware that breast cancer existed? Of course you are -- gone are the days, thankfully, when we couldn't speak aloud about "breast" cancer. Were you not aware that corporations were generous? Of course you are -- … [Read more...]

It’s Monday. Let’s Do a Giveaway, Shall We? Win a “My Pretty Playhouse” by Cascades!

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A few months ago, our neighbour had a large appliance delivered. The big cardboard box that it came in was brought out for all the kids on the street to play with. Despite having a garage full of fancy ride-on toys and other delights of suburbia, the kids just never tired of the cardboard box! I suppose then that it's no surprise that my kids were so intrigued when the "My Pretty Playhouse" arrived to our house. This playhouse is produced by … [Read more...]

Planning for a Big Boy’s Room

When we moved into this house, we'd promised Stella that we'd decorate her room right away. She was feeling upset about leaving our old home and neighbourhood and we thought that a special room of her own would help. We followed through on that promise and her room is pretty darn cute, if I say so myself. But for Max, a toddler with no real emotional ties to the old house, we simply plunked his existing furniture into the new bedroom. We … [Read more...]

Books for Tweens: The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams

The Boy in the Dress

I've been meaning to share some recommendations and reviews on books for tweens ever since I wrote about UNBORED (which will be released next week -- get your copy, it's fantastic!). Instead of the traditional "back-to-school" clothing shopping, I took Stella, my 10-year-old daughter who has no interest in clothing, to the bookstore and let her pick a ton of books. (Hey, I was saving a fortune on clothes, so why not?!) One of these books was … [Read more...]

Day of Me

Birthday Card painted by Hubby

This time last year, I had already completed two whirlwind trips to Toronto as well as a more lengthy stay in New York City, followed by a huge family dinner and celebration. Yep, remember Month of Me? I really lived it up, and enjoyed every minute of it. Last night, Hubby asked what I was going to do for my birthday this year. The answer? Not much. I've booked a vacation day off at work and I think I will sit around and blog and drink coffee … [Read more...]

A Curtain Rod

Curtain Rod from Lowes, Curtains from Tonic Living

Unlike every "reality" television show, I have concluded that unless you are extremely well-heeled, creating a home in a decor that you love takes a very long time. In our old home, I never bothered because we had always planned to reno the place and I didn't want to invest in something only to find it didn't work after the reno. But now, Hubby and I are in agreement that with this home, we will take the time to invest and surround ourselves with … [Read more...]

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

airstream3911

No, I'm not talking about the Christmas decor slowly seeping into the malls ... I'm talking NOW. Autumn. Fall. And more specifically, October. It is THE most wonderful time of the year. I've always loved the Fall. As a child, this was easy to explain -- it is my birthday after all. As I got older, there was a birthday plus the family gathering of Canadian Thanksgiving. But there's also the crispness that comes in the air. That feeling of … [Read more...]

It’s Friday, Friends. Happy Birthday, Baby!

Today, Hubby is 40. Unlike moi, he does not seem to be suffering any kind of middle aged crisis requiring a month-long celebration nor any angst about aging. I think that means that he's perfectly content ... he's happy. And that makes me happy. Because I love him more than anything. So for this Friday's music video inspiration, I've picked The Cure's "Lovesong." The lyrics seem just right for the occasion, even if the video makes me wonder … [Read more...]

Ecoholic Body: What Chemicals Are in My Makeup?

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I've been making my way through Adria Vasil's book Ecoholic Body. In it, she quickly identifies what she refers to as 'Ecoholic's Mean 15: Top Body Care Ingredients to Shelve for Good." This is fine and dandy as a list, but as I noted in my post last week, I simply don't want to have to spend the time reading all the ingredients and cross-checking them against Ecoholic's Mean 15. That's why a store like Terra20 is very appealing to me. You … [Read more...]

It’s Friday, Friends. This One’s for The Dads.

This Friday's music video is dedicated to the Dads who read here. But I'm sending out happy weekend vibes to all of you! P.S. That long string one of the guys wears to avoid losing his sunglasses? Hubby wears one of those. Hawt. … [Read more...]