Solea: John Fluevog Trunk Show

Come out to Solea for the John Fluevog Autumn/Winter 2011/12 collection Trunk Show on Saturday, April 16th, 2011.

There will also be an informal fashion show with Barrett Palmer models from 2-4 pm and a special guest Michael Belgue - Global Sales Director of John Fluevog Shoes.

Solea

943 Carling Avenue at Sherwood Drive, Ottawa

613-728-6905
www.solea.ca

Monday - Wednesday:  9-6

Thursday - Friday:   9-8

Saturday:  9-6

Sunday: 12-5

Dress For Success: Looking for interview-appropriate clothing

Spring is here and I know most of you are cleaning out your closets to make room for your new spring and summer clothes. Here is a perfect opportunity to clean out your closet and donate your clothes to make a difference and help disadvantaged women in our community.

Dress For Success is hosting a Closet Clean Out – Spring/Summer Clothing Drive at their boutique at 1339 Wellington Avenue (corner of Ross - entrance is at the back of the building - by Capital Luggage Store) on:

Friday, April 15, 2011: 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Saturday, April 16, 2011: 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization offering services designed to help disadvantaged women in our community find jobs and remain employed. Each Dress for Success client receives one suit when she has a job interview and can return for a second suit or separates when she finds work.

Dress for Success currently accepts new or nearly-new and cleaned, modern spring/summer interview-appropriate clothing in sizes 00 -28+ and office-suitable maternity wear. They also take shoes and accessories, unopened personal hygiene products, such as shampoo, body wash and unopened cosmetics.

Here are some examples of the type of clothing they accept:

• Coordinated, contemporary, interview-appropriate skirt and pant suits
• Beautiful, crisp blouses
• Gorgeous blazers and jackets
• Professional shoes
• Larger-size suits and apparal

When preparing your donation of clothing, take a moment to ask yourself:

“Would I wear this to a professional interview in a corporate, government or business office?”

If the answer is “yes”, please bring it to them clean, pressed and on a hanger. No garbage bags please.

Sorry, they cannot use: 

• Suits and dresses that are not interview-appropriate
• Sportswear or casual clothes
• Evening wear
• Jewelry
• Belts
• Used cosmetics
• Used pantyhose
• Men's clothing

Dress For Success
1339 Wellington Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario
ottawa@dressforsuccess.org
www.dressforsuccess.org/ottawa

Art-Is-In Boulangerie

I was excited to find out the Art-Is-In Boulangerie's new home was located in the famous City Center building. Most call this the ugliest building in Ottawa but I have always been fascinated by it and was happy to go check it out.

The City Center building is located off of Scott Road and the Art-Is-In Boulangerie is in Bay 112-114 - important to know the Bay number because it's hard to find it amongst the other businesses.

When I entered the shop I was pleasantly surprised on how large it was - it was very spacious. They offer breakfast and light lunches ranging from croissants, morning pastries, breakfast sandwiches, a variety of delicious sandwiches, paninis and homemade soup - plus a wide range of bakery items. Of course they also carry all their lovely bread - which if you haven't had yet, it is a "must try".

 

For lunch, we sampled their paninis sandwiches and some of their pastries and coffee - it was very good. I would highly recommend this place for a quick lunch or a coffee break. There isn't a lot of seating but if you are lucky you can have a seat along the window or a seat on the couch. If you are in a hurry, just take it to go. Don't forget to get a loaf of bread while you're there.

 

www.artisinbakery.com

250 City Center Avenue Bay 112-114 (from Scott Road)

613-695-1226

Tues - Fri: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm

Saturday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

Sunday: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm   

Flock & Victoire Flyer

Check your mail, there is a 10% off coupon at West Wellington Village's Victoire Boutique and Flock Boutique.

Victoire Boutique:1282 Unit B. Wellington St. West

"Victoire offers a well-edited mix of ideas and trends - mixing edgy wares with more classic pieces. Focusing primarily on Canadian designers, mixing in a select few American designers, the store’s aesthetic point can only be described as a “Rock ’n’ Roll tea party”. Loved by rebel girls with good manners everywhere, Victoire is a shop obsessed with anything made-in-Canada, supercute, gold or embroidered. "

Flock Boutique:  1275. Wellington St. West    

Carries a wide selection of unique handmade goods, clothing, accessories, housewares, gifts and jewellery from up and coming Canadian designers. I have received a few jewelry items from this store for my birthday and they were real cool pieces. Lots of people have been raving about this store, so I'm sure you would be able to find great items here.

Petit Bill's Bistro: Indulgence



Petit Bill's Bistro



Once in a while you have to indulge into something sinful and delicious. If you decide it's time to put your diet aside and reward yourself with something so incredibly good, then go to Petit Bill's Bistro and order the Lobster Poutine. This Lobster Poutine takes poutine to another level - nothing like tasty french fries topped with pieces of lobster and smothered in a shellfish and mascarpone butter sauce. I'm drooling just thinking about it - it is was so creamy and delicious that when you are done, you want to lick the plate.

Lobster Poutine

After sharing a plate of Lobster Poutine with my sister for lunch, we were both very disappointed we weren't there for dinner to try some of the other dishes. The food sounds so good like the seafood chowder, steak frites and the pheasant breast wrapped in house smoked bacon, red wine braised pheasant leg and mushroom ragout.

Petit Bill's Bistro is a very comfortable, friendly restaurant which has a bit of a "Newfy" charm about it. When you go in, you will surely be greeted by the owner which makes you feel at home. The menu offers contemporary French cuisine mixed with East Coast "down home" comfort food. The next time I go out for dinner, I'm surely going back to Petit Bill's Bistro - see you there.

Petit Bill's Bistro
1293 Wellington St W, Ottawa, ON K1Y 3B1
613-729-2500

Oresta Facial

I'm not one to get facials all the time but since I received an Oresta Facial gift certificate for Christmas - I just had to use it.  I was pleasantly surprised that getting a facial treatment at Oresta's included an added bonus of an arm, shoulder and foot massage, plus an eyebrow clean-up, on top of pampering your face. My favourite treatment was the nice hot towels on your face.

Oresta customizes your facial treatment to your individual skin type needs. Therefore you won't have any type of reaction, instead you will leave the spa looking lovely and glowing.

Oresta uses primarily the Eminence Organic skin care line in all their facial treatments. This is a wonderful line of products because they are exactly what all of us want in a skin care product: it is be made of:  "handmade, organically grown herb, fruit and vegetable-based skin care products free of synthetic preservatives, fragrances and colours." When they apply Eminence products on your face you can smell the different fruits contained in it - they almost smell good enough to eat.

In the end of my facial treatment, I felt incredibly relaxed and truthfully my skin looked radiant and revitalized. I had a glow about my skin which I haven't had in a long time. The other great thing about Oresta's there is no pressure for you to buy their products, they will be a happy to inform you of any products you are interested in but with no pressure.

If you need a boost this winter, think about getting an Oresta Facial Treatment. Oresta has two locations, in Hintonburg and in the Glebe.

Target taking over Zellers

If you are a cross border shopper, you will be happy to hear that Target is moving to Canada from the US. Target will be taking over Zellers and plan to eventually open 200 to 250 outlets across Canada. Beginning in 2013, they will start off with opening 100 to 150 Target stores. For the Zeller locations that are not being converted to Target, they will be sold off.

I for one will be sad to see Zellers go, I have been a big supporter of Zellers in Huntsville. They always seemed to have something I wanted at a discount price. However, I am curious to see what Target has to offer. Target claims to be a "hipper version of Walmart" and more higher end.



Courtesy of The Financial Post

Target also plans to 'woo' Canadian customers with an offer of 5% off every shopping trip when you use the Target credit and debit card - not a bad incentive.



There has been no word yet if they will be opening any Target stores in Ottawa - I'm fairly certain there will be at least one.  And you can bet I will be checking it out for bargains and buying clothes there so I can be a "hipper version of Walmart".