Archive for the ‘Ottawa Fun’ Category

living
May 2nd, 2013

I Never Thought I Would Say This: Britney Spears and I Have Something in Common

This is crazy. But apparently Britney Spears and I have something in common.

Unfortunately, it’s not her insane wealth, nor her bikini-worthy body. (Although fortunately it’s not her bad taste in men or suppliers of hair extensions.)

What I’ve noticed lately is that when it comes to Britney, what people are talking about is this:

Britney Spears making a funny face

That she makes funny faces.

I never thought that much of them. But if you google “Britney Spears + funny faces” (why yes, I do spend my spare time in productive ways … what’s it to ya?), there are more than 28 million results! That is a whole lot of people that think Britney makes amusing faces when she’s on the X-factor panel.

Three funny faces by Britney Spears

 

Okay, back to me.

I was on a panel at WordCamp last weekend. I asked my friend Andrea to take a few photos for me on her phone. And low and behold, I don’t have a single normal face in any of them!

panelist at wordcamp

I think me and Brit Brit could be good friends. She really should ring me up sometime.


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April 25th, 2013

School for Bloggers: Top 5 WordPress Plugins (#WCOttawa)

WordCamp Ottawa, #wcottawa

This week, my hometown of Ottawa will be hosting its very first WordCamp (#WCOttawa)!

I’ve mentioned in previous “School for Bloggers” posts that these kinds of events are a life bread for bloggers because it’s the best way to learn — from each other. There’s no school for this crazy thing called blogging, so this is what we do instead.

Here’s how WordCamp Central describes these gatherings, which have taken place all over the world:

“WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other.”

WordCamp Ottawa will be kicking off tonight with a “Pre-Camp” that provides an introduction to WordPress. It’s $5 to go. Seriously. $5. Go! You can still register right here.

And then on Saturday, there is an awesome full-day agenda for all attendees to take in. It’s $23. I know, great value, right? There are three tracks developed for the WordCamp Ottawa conference: (1) Content Creators, (2) Site Creators, and (3) Code Creators. And each track has 7 sessions.

It’s going to be hard to choose between sessions, but I plan on splitting my time between the Content Creators and Site Creators sessions. I am really excited about it all — the learning offered at this conference is very unique from other blogging-related conferences I’ve attended. There are already more than 250 registered attendees, but you can still squeak in! The link to the registration page is here.

I’m also an invited speaker at this event. Although I am likely their token non-techie, I am really honoured. The panel I am a part of is called: Building Your Business, Cause, or Brand using WordPress. (If you are attending, please come and say hello!)

As part of the build-up to this event, the organizers have been posting Speaker Profiles on the site. In these profiles, each speaker shares his/her favourite WordPress Plugins. I thought this information was invaluable. So I’ve rounded up all of the plugins mentioned and created a top 5 list.

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April 24th, 2013

Oprah in Ottawa: A Re-Cap

When I heard that Oprah was coming to Ottawa, I just knew I had to get a ticket. Like people who still buy tickets to the Rollings Stones playing live, for me, Oprah is more about nostalgia and a deep respect for what she has accomplished in her life more than any kind of present-day fandom.

She kicked off The Oprah Show in 1986, the same year I started high school. Despite it being a daytime show, I managed to see many episodes during my five years of high school (remember, there used to be a grade 13?). I’m not sure how though because I never, ever skipped class (*cough*cough*).

Oprah circa 1987

Oprah circa 1987

And just as I knew I needed to get my hands on a ticket, I knew that my bestie Jacqueline would need to come with me. (She never skipped class either. Pinkie swear.)

Jacqueline and Julie

 

The floor level seats were selling at up to $500 a piece! Jacqueline and I, however, revved up the mini-van and headed out to the show with our $150 tickets.

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April 5th, 2013

You’re Not the Boss of Me! (+ a fun book giveaway)

I am so the boss of you - by Kathy Buckworth

Thankfully, I have not heard this uttered from the mouths of either of my children (yet?) but I can vouch for having spat them at my parents once or twice. To prepare myself for hearing these words one day, I picked up Kathy Buckworth‘s newly launched book I Am So The Boss of You.

Okay, let me back up. I actually picked up the book so that I could have it in hand for when she arrived into Ottawa for her book launch celebration. You know … friends, appetizers, drinks … yeah, that … I didn’t want to miss that! Hosted by Good Karma Baby’s Sherrie-Mae Guthrie and author Laurel Anderson, I wanted to show my support for Kathy on this extra notch in her belt (she has already written a slew of books, my favourite of which so far is The BlackBerry Diaries).

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travel
March 18th, 2013

Spectacular Northwest Territories: Seeing Stars and Lucky Stars

Seeing the Aurora Borealis up in Canada’s Great North has always been a dream of mine. (And Hubby’s … but his also includes winter camping, whitewater canoeing, and a whole bunch of other adventurous deeds.) So when I received an invitation from MJW Communications to a kick-off event for the Spectacular Northwest Territories Days at Ottawa’s Winterlude in February, I immediately accepted. Normally, I go to these travel-writing/blogging events on my own, but since it involved the Northwest Territories, Hubby was definitely going to be my date.

It was a week-day evening thing, so it was all a touch hectic and Hubby and I ended up having to meet there, taking separate cars. As I pulled into the parking lot of the Chateau Laurier — the fanciest of fancy-pants hotels in Ottawa, where the event was being held — I heard a loud sound on the top of my vehicle. And then I was stuck. Yep, I’d forgotten that I had the storage box on top of my car with our cross-country skis and now my vehicle was too tall to enter into the underground parking lot. But I was already half-way in.

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