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Friday, July 27, 2012

Ottawa, you are growing on me

I not so recently moved to our nation's capital, Ottawa, Ontario and although its been almost a year since the official move happened, I still feel like such a tourist in my own city. Could be because I've ran away to Mexico twice (for almost 2 months each time) since then, or that my current life consists of work, homework, school and the odd time sleep, when my schedule permits - who knows! But for what is left of the summer I am determined to get a little more intimate with this city of mine. It's embarrassing that i still dont know my way around, get lost whenever im attempting to get anywhere, and i get a blank expression on my face when people tell me "You know, across from the (insert notable landmark here)."




If you've seen Sex and the City, you remember the "Anchors Away" episode of season 5 where Carrie dates New York city. I want to date Ottawa. I want to know all about it, the good and the bad, the ins and the outs, it's dirty habits and hidden gems. I've discovered that a great way to get more interactive with your city is to attend events. My last post about Avah Taylor was a great event I attended at local boutique Kania, and last week I attended a Third Tuesday Ottawa event to hear Gini Dietrich speak about her book "Marketing in the Round" and her website www.spinsucks.com. Although I felt a tad out of place, being a mere student amongst all of these business professionals, Gini was very entertaining and clearly passionate.  She drove home the point of "measuring your results", as  you can see how she signed my copy of Marketing in the Round. She stressed how important measuring results is, and correctly assumed that as communications/PR people, complicated math probably is not our strongest point. Nonetheless, advanced algebra is not necessary, just solely the simple act of correctly measuring your results. Companies and business want numbers. They want to know how many people have followed them on Twitter, liked them on Facebook, bought their product or visited their website thanks to you.  I am a guilty member of the "I'm in communications therefore i don't need math" club (maybe even the president), but Gini shed some light on the fact that yes math is necessary, and no it does not require a master's degree in economics. Thank goodness! As a student not yet out in the workforce, this put me a little more at ease. This sounds like something I can actually do. 



So for me personally, the Third Tuesday event was a success. Coming up I have a "Ladies who Lunch" business women's lunch on the 31st, a fashion event "Modern chic" on August 9th, possibly being followed by fashion show Aug 11. I'm so excited for all of these future events, and not only get involved with my city, but with topics that interest me. Communications is my education, fashion is my passion. 

I really cant wait to see what other events and opportunities Ottawa has to offer me. Ottawa, you have inspired me and  I truly believe that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Black Sheep Fashion

I have recently started writing contributions for The Black Sheep Fashion, which is a Canadian fashion website highlighting Canadian designers and style collaborations and I LOVE IT! Love the concept of the site, love fashion writing. This will be a short post, it's Sunday, I'm tired, and i don't have much more to say other then check out the The Black Sheep at www.theblacksheepfashion.com. It's awesome, it's Canadian and it's fashion. Can't get much better than that!

Here's my first article about FERI jewellery Every girl deserves a FERI tale

Friday, July 13, 2012

Avah Taylor Launch Party

Last Thursday evening my friend Katherine and I attended a launch party for avahtaylor.com (check it out- it is the latest add to my blog list) and had a wonderful time! It was my first time meeting Avah, but upon arriving at the location (Kania, a boutique here in Ottawa) i knew instantly we would get along just fine.  Providing cupcakes, wine, fine jewels and even finer fashion Avah sure knows the way to a girl's heart! The cupcakes were delectable, the wine delicious and the fashion darling. I particularly enjoyed the throwback to the late 90's with Destiny's child tunes pumping. Katherine and i were singing (horribly) "ladies leave your men at home, nah nah nah nah nah"all the way home. Be thankful we didn't start until we left the party (to the streets & pedestrians of Ottawa - i do apologize, it was the wine i swear!)

 Although it was a scorching 32 degrees here in Ottawa that day, it didn't seem to faze anyone (other than my poor hair). The location was full to the brim with fashionistas. Fragrance expert Sid Cratzbarg was there (he is SO much fun), as well as beautiful jewellery from Logan Antiques and Vivah Jewellery. I am relatively new to the Ottawa area (okay that is half true - I've been here since September but between finishing up my degree and working i have turned into a grandma and never go out) so for me it was extremely interesting to find all these local stores that were right under my nose that i didn't even know about! It was so refreshing to meet so many stylish people interested in my passion (fashion)! I really do have to get out and get to know my city a little more.

Overall verdict: awesome night, awesome people, awesome city!  My thanks go out to Avah for the great event and to Katherine for kindly allowing me to be her +1! Thanks for a lovely evening ladies! Hope to do it again soon! xxx







Sunday, July 8, 2012

Pastel Pants

Pastel coloured pants are a huge trend these days, but if you are anything like me you see other people wearing it and think "man that looks great on them but i could never pull that off!". It's a trend that i have admired on other people but never thought i could do myself. I'm not a size 0, i've got hips and make it a habit to generally steer clear of light coloured jeans. That being said, for one reason or another i decided to give it a whirl. I'm 23, i figure why not try it when i'm young and i can? I reluctantly bought a pair of pink jeans from Zara, and even more reluctantly wore them out. To my pleasant surprise, i received SO many compliments on them! From women young to old, girls to men, everyone loves the pink pants! I tend to get stuck in my ways, and usually rather stay with the tried and true than attempt something new style wise. In that sense i think i am a bit frumpy for my age, and am trying to break out of that mold. If i can, you can too! The cliche YOLO is applicable here, because well you DO only live once, so go ahead and try the pink pants! I promise you will be pleasantly surprised with the results. If you are a little self conscious of your hips like myself, you could wear a longer, looser shirt to cover the area, or maybe add a cute cardigan. Other fun colours to try could include mint green, yellow and purple.