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November 2nd, 2011

And, now back to you! (Mark’s $50 Giveaway)

You’ve had just about enough “Month of Me” by now, I’m sure. So, let’s turn it back to you!

I have a treat for one of you: A $50 gift certificate from my BFF (aka Mark’s, remember?) … and just in time for the season change! (Yes, because I do still need to convince myself that I don’t hate winter. Cozy, cute winter clothes will help, right?)

I love online shopping (here’s a list of my favourite spots for getting errands done) and clothes shopping in increasingly joining my ever-expanding group of things that I never had to enter a mall for ever again. I think the only thing I still actually enjoy shopping for in person is shoes and books, and even those I still buy online sometimes too.

Anyhow, I digress. My point was that Mark’s has been working on creating a better online shopping experience on their website. It launched TODAY, and they’re really excited about it and would like you to take a look. In exchange for doing so, one of you will win a $50 gift certificate.

I’ve taken a good poke around the site and I’ve decided that if I was given $50 to spend at Mark’s, I would pick this:

This is the Denver Hayes Soft Draft Cardigan, and it’s priced at $33.74. With my left-over money, I would also add this to my shopping bag:

Mark’s calls these “Home Socks” which seems just perfect, because when I get home from the office I do love to put on big fluffy socks instead of slippers. These socks are priced at $14.99.

That brings my total to $48.73. And shipping is free until the end of the year anywhere in Canada!

I’d definitely be happy with the above selections. But I do think that, although they’ve made great strides in the right direction (such as adding customer review options, and cleaning up the design), Mark’s still needs to work on increasing the online inventory in the days ahead if they want to provide a true shopping experience. And I am hopeful that they will. (Especially so that I can add them to my list of faves!).

So, now it’s your turn. If you won the $50, what would you spend it on?

To enter this giveaway:

Simply browse through the Mark’s website enter your selection(s) in the comments section below.
I will do a draw using random.org in one week’s time (November 9th).

Good luck and have fun checking out the site!

30 Comments »

October 15th, 2011

“Month of Me” post #07: Why yes, I am at another blogging conference

“Month of Me” is a little ol’ wild and crazy concept: In October, the month I celebrate my 40th birthday, I will do a whole slew of things that I love. Just because. You can read the kick-off post here.

Okay, so I’m back in Toronto. Again. For a blogging conference. Again.

I know … to most of you, this just sounds coo-coo! And I certainly don’t blame you for thinking that. But hey, it’s my month and I do love me some bloggers and some blogging fun. So I am here to partake in the bliss that is Blissdom Canada, a major conference that focuses on social media, blogging, marketing, and public relations. Plus, lots of connecting with women from all walks of life, with so many diverse talents.

I was already very keen to come to Blissdom Canada, and then I received an invite to participate at the event as a Tribe Leader for Travel, so it was a no-brainer — I was not going to miss it!

All of the Blissdom attendees were treated to an opening night reception at CBC’s home. To get from our conference hotel to the CBC building, we were chauffeured in Chevrolet Orlandos (a car that has flip-up seats that give you the space of a mini-van, but still drives like a car). We got all doll’d up and felt pretty special.

That’s my buddy Andrea and I. She’s pretty much a celebrity now (Which she can’t stand me saying. But, if you click here, you’ll see what I mean. Plus you can probably even see the pores on her face the photo of her is so large! I think she’ll love that I said that too.) It is actually quite difficult to bask in her starlight since she’s the modest type, but I still do my best.

Speaking of trying to get a little star dust …. here are some of my fun photos from the CBC Live party! Above is a terrible photo, but it gives me a lovely memory kick-back to the little “squee!” feeling I had when arriving to this stunning building, only to find a red carpet laid out for us and photographers waiting inside.

Ann Douglas has been my personal hero since finding myself increasing depressed (and distressed!) when I was first pregnant in 2002 and reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I was so relieved to find Ann’s book The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, with its warm, calm and intelligent tone. Since then, I pretty much try to read everything she writes. She is quite active on twitter and we chat every now and then, and last night, I got to meet her in person for the first time. She gave me such a big warm hug! Meeting her made me very happy. The rest of the conference was just going to be icing now.

On the far left of this picture is Nora Young, who is host of CBC’s show Spark. Most of us in the Ottawa bloggy community (standing beside Nora is Dani, Shannon, Karen, and Andrea on the end) are a little ga-ga over CBC Radio in general, but to meet Nora Young? Well, everyone was trying to act cool and not totally star struck!

And last but not least, I tried to get a photo with Casey. You know — Casey, from Mr. Dressup! Remember Casey?

But no dice. I knocked on his door, but it must have been past his bedtime or something.

CBC Live also covered the event and posted a great video with live footage. If you’re interested, you can check it out here.

3 Comments »

September 30th, 2011

“Month of Me” post #004: Photo Recap of the Fun Stuff from Day One of the She’s Connected Conference

Howdy everyone!

So yesterday started off very bright and early (actually, why is it “bright” and early because, really, it’s “dark” when you need to get up early, isn’t it?)! Me and my bloggy buddy Andrea (otherwise known as @missfish and she is AWESOME and she totally didn’t lock the keys in her car) drove to Toronto to attend the first day of the She’s So Connected Conference.

We had planned to arrive just in time to hear the opening keynote, but alas, we were a touch late. Thankfully, we did catch the end-half though, because it was given by Sheryl Connelly, who works with Ford Motor Company as a Futurist. Yes, a Futurist — fascinating, dream job, me thinks. She was very articulate and had an excellent presentation deck to share with us, so I was relieved that we had managed to squeeze ourselves into the back of the room.

Then, after the keynote, there was a lot of mixing and networking to kick off Day One. Here’s a photo recap of some of the fun stuff.

Ford Canada did a great job with their set-up here at She’s So Connected. There was “car-eoke” where you could sing karoke while sitting in a red sports car, test drives of their auto-parking feature, and tons of others things. One of my faves though was this video race set-up. I tried it and crashed so many times, it was hilarious. Here, my buddies Lara Wellman and Andrea Tomkins are having a go.

I have no idea who these weiners are!

Friends from our Ottawa social media contingent enjoying nice, cold Molson Canadian 67 Sublime beers, which has a new lime and lemon twist that I liked.

But as much as a enjoyed this light beer all on its own, I have to say that this cocktail, made with beer and not spirits was even better! It was crushed ice, frozen blueberries, simple syrup and a top of beer and a sprig of basil. Mmmm….

And of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the #ShoesConnected after-conference party at the Town Shoes flagship store on Toronto’s Bloor Street. It was two-floors of good times …. fancy finger foods, wine, music, and shoes-shoes-shoes!

After a good long look around at all the shoes (I won’t even go into the bags … oh, they were nice too!), I decided that these Miz Mooz boots were my true love. But alas, I held to my budget and did not make the purchase (you are proud of me, aren’t you??!)

5 Comments »

September 24th, 2011

“Month of Me” post #03: Kicking it off a little early!

Officially, the #MonthofMe project is supposed to be the month of October but ….

I’ve decided to kick off the #MonthofMe a little early. I was invited to a conference called ShesConnected, which takes place on September 29th and 30th.

I was curious about this invite-only conference that aims to connect Canada’s “digital women” with brands, but the timing was terrible. For a number of reasons, not the least of which was the time I’d have to book off work and the cost of attending (the conference itself is free for the chosen digital women, but you still need to get yourself there and have a place to lay your head at night), I was going to reluctantly decline.

But then the agenda was released. Unlike many conferences which are a parade of successful men speakers, this one had some really fabulous women speakers lined up. These were women I’d really love to hear from.

So I was really sitting on the fence at this point. I could manage to squeeze it into my schedule, but it wouldn’t be easy — I’d need to start the drive up to Toronto early Thursday am and then do the drive back on Friday, arriving home late after the kids were already in bed. Before collapsing in bed, I’d need to unpack from Toronto, and pack up for New York City, since my girlfriend would be picking me up early Saturday am to make the long drive to the Big Apple together. Hectic, right?

I try to avoid hectic.

And yet, I’m going for sure now. Why, you ask? What pushed me off the fence?

Here’s what: a post-conference party is being held from 7 to 9 pm at Town Shoes on Bloor Street called “ShoesConnected”!

You know what I say to that? SOLD!

1 Comment »

August 24th, 2011

The Project Priceless Wedding: Was this social experiment a success?

It’s 6:30 am and the house is quiet, and I am fully dressed and ready to walk out the door. Normally, I would just head into the office and catch up on some things, but this morning I want to take some time to tell you about the Project Priceless wedding. I’ve already told you a little bit about why I was invited to this wedding, and the hoops I jumped through to get there. But there is more, so much more.

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Here is how Jordan and Brian explain the Project Priceless wedding on their website.

Project: Priceless is an experiment. The goal: to get Brian and Jordan married in the next year, as free-of-charge as possible. The method: the happy couple will borrow, trade, and accept offers of all the items and services that make up a wedding. Everyone who contributes to the occasion gets a shout-out, and any businesses or artisans who contribute get big shout-outs. Contribute, or follow along just for fun to see how things are going.

Can a community chip in and create a priceless wedding for an awesome couple? Let’s find out…

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I do love a wedding. But mostly, if I’m honest, I think I love weddings because they allow me to be flooded with all the memories of my own wedding, 15 years ago.

While so much of Jordan and Brian’s wedding was radically different than my own (like the Chaplan, Dr. Alan Viau, inviting all the guests to use the wedding hashtag and tweet out photos, for example!), there was so much love in the air that while my body was sitting in the fairytale setting of Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm with the sun shining down on this young couple …

… my heart was under century-old gum trees in southern Australia, saying “I do” one more time …

While our decor for the reception was freshly cut sunflowers that had been lovingly grown from seeds by my mother-in-law and her husband on their farm, the Project Priceless decor included bright green and purple pom-poms that a friend had taught them out to make:

I’m sure you’ll agree that this decor looks fabulous! It was so fresh and fun, I just loved it. But what really made it all so especially cool were the personal touches. Imagine my delight, for example, when I sat at my place-setting and found a handwritten and handcrafted card thank-you card.

In fact, absolutely everything was handcrafted! Countless — countless! — hours must have gone into the preparations.

And in case you’re wondering why there were crayons in the photo above, it’s because each place-setting had one of those paper placements like they provide to children in restaurants to keep them busy. On it, guests were invited to complete a custom crossword puzzle as well as to doodle a picture of the bride and groom.

There were also a number of new traditions that, if I were to be married today, I would certainly love to incorporate into my wedding. I think I already mentioned the wedding tattoos. I love the idea of wedding tattoos, and I love this specific tattoo that Jordan and Brian had created by artist Sarah Rogers of Living Colour Tattoo.

I also think a candy table is, of course, pure genius! This table in particular was particularly amazing because it was from none other than The Candy Store. Oh so good! And all colour-coordinated to match the wedding colours of green, orange and purple!

And I would certainly follow this tradition: An In-Spirit Table. For so many reasons, I thought this was really special. This table was a collection of memorabilia from those who could not make it to the wedding, as well as those who had already passed on. These people were there “in spirit.”

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At the end of the evening, when the cake had been cut, the first dances had been had, and I felt I had done the best job I could as a live-tweeter, I slipped out into the evening air back to the parking lot to drive myself home.

I looked up and took a moment to admire the stars, so bright in the country sky. I had only been here at this wedding for but a few hours, and yet, it felt like I’d been wisked away to somewhere magical.

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When I got home, Hubby asked me how it had all gone. I told him it had been wonderful, just wonderful. Still slightly baffled by it all, he said, “Why was it called ‘project priceless’? Because it hadn’t cost them anything?”

I said, yes, I guess so. But I knew it was so much more. This social experiment was much more than a wedding without a price tag. So much more.