Blogging Ottawa: Seasons Greetings!

Its been awhile since my last roundup of Ottawa blogger news, but now seems as good a time as any. Here are the latest and greatest updates for this holiday season…

The experts at Westboro’s “premiere treat boutique” The Candy Store have been providing readers of their blog a real education in the world of fancy confections. Leading up to Christmas, I’ve learned lots about Paris Caramels, a delicious sounding French concoction of milk, butter and sugar, Galler Belgian Chocolate, and Salmiak – a salted licorice favoured in northern Europe. If Santa’s elves have time left, no doubt they’d find some fabulously flavourful stocking stuffers at this must stop shop.

Theatre aficionado (turned activist) Jessica Ruano has published another interesting and informative article highlighting Ottawa’s arts & culture scene, this time award winning local Guerrilla Magazine. Art Smarts, with Ruano as your field guide, offers some very fine suggestions for theatre goers and arts lovers well in to the new year. Read up here on Jessica’s blog, or check it out at Guerrilla Magazine.

The ladies over at Victoire have also been busy blogging up a (winter) storm, sharing photos and inspiration for everything from party outfits to perfect gifts. Here, six ‘Little Black Dress’ options were proposed, and here they suggest no less than nine new pillows! Open right up to 4pm on Christmas Eve, there is sure to be something left in store for the independently-minded fashionista on your list.

Kim’s star keeps on rising. This local blogging phenom, a driving force behind renowned design blog Desire to Inspire,was featured in the January edition of Canadian House & Home magazine. This is no small deal, as House & Home is the undisputed king of the Canadian decorating magazine scene. Kim’s blog caught the eye of the Editors who invited her to share her views on this year’s most important decorating trends. Check here for an online view.

If you look closely, you will note one of Kim’s favourite local shops, Found Design. This Bank St. shop has long been a haunt of mine too, with their carefully collected selection of mid-century classics and Canadian made vintage pieces. Mike and Malcolm have just started blogging too. Welcome fellow bloggers, welcome!

Tracie of Youth League and the Spies has been sharing her success lately too. This post highlights her freelance work for Ottawa Magazine and these fashion photos by local photographer Daniel Weinand, were superbly styled by her.

Ashley McConnell and Justyna Baraniencki-Andrzejak, Editors-in-Chief of Ottawa’s newest arty online fashion magazine Dinner Jacket have outdone themselves again. The December issue, released last week, tackles Christmas from a slightly different perspective and offers an appealing look at the season’s darker side.

And then there is Ren. This girl is moving and shaking so fast I can hardly keep up! Ottawafocus.com has added Bywords.ca to its roster of contributors to provide a weekly update on Ottawa’s literary scene. Talk about a one stop shop for all things Ottawa focused!