Jen’s Jibberish: All About the Butt – Discover Your Inner Booty Beauty

 Who doesn’t appreciate a nice rear view? It’s nice that there is a month dedicated to the butt. However, I am not talking about what’s on the outside here. It’s all about your inner booty beauty. While Colon Cancer Awareness Month, www.colorectal-cancer.ca) comes to an end, I couldn't let the month pass

The Final Four: Kentucky, and the Rest

 ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas sparked an interesting debate on Twitter last Sunday: how many Final Four appearances has Kentucky head coach John Calipari actually made? The NCAA has vacated two of Calipari’s previous visits, with Massachusetts in 1996 and Memphis in 2008, due to rules violations involving star

Rail: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

 Rail Series: By Claire Tremblay and Harvey Chartrand Nothing quite defines pioneering Canada as its railways. Think rail and the image of thousands of miles of steel stretching the length of our great country comes to mind. Ottawa Life begins a look at the railway industry with an overview of

March: In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lamb

 The normally wildly unpredictable March has come in like a lamb, and is, well, going out like one too. And while spring officially commenced on March 20th, many parts of Canada, Ottawa included, have already been experiencing spring-like (and even summer-like!) weather for weeks. In fact, Ottawa smashed nine daily

Home Series: The Greatness of Great Rooms

 Take a minute to think about your idea of a fabulous room. For many, the concept of a grand room hearkens back to the romanticized ideal of great halls and chambers in medieval castles or majestic homes. Are you visualizing a large room, bustling with activity?  If so, then you

Healthcare Series: Medication Costs – A Barrier to Health

 If you get sick in Canada, for the most part, you’re in luck. Canadians enjoy universal health care which means pre-paid access to a doctor or specialist in a taxpayer-funded health care system. However, receiving a diagnosis is only half of the equation. The other half is access to medication.

Pelting Out The Oldies

 If you get the chance to catch The Pelts, make sure you jump at the opportunity. This band, made up first and foremost of a bunch of buddies, knows how to throw a party and because of their carefree approach to shaking out danceable feel-good music to the delight of

Sleeping on the Streets: University Students “Homeless” for 5 Days

 Last week, students from Carleton University and the University of Ottawa hit the streets of Ottawa to raise awareness on homelessness in Canada. A national campaign, 5 Days for the Homeless invites university students to live "homeless" on their campus and raise money and awareness for a local charity of

Little Red Boots Made For Walking

 Nominated for two JUNOS and riding the early success of her roots album Little Red Boots, the general consensus by critics is that the Toronto-born artist, who has drawn comparisons to Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, is the next big thing in country music. When you first hear her effortless

Amber Watkins for Ottawa Life Magazine

 The March/April issue of Ottawa Life Magazine features Amber Watkins, a local swimsuit designer and her latest SWIM Spring/Summer 2012 collection. I caught up with the busy designer to ask her how she got started, who the collection is for and where we can expect to see Watkins in five

67s Vie for Playoff Redemption

 For one game, it seemed as if the 2012 United States men’s national junior hockey team would not require the services of Shane Prince, the Ottawa Senators draft pick cut from the American squad days before the start of the World Juniors. The US faced off against Denmark in their

Thirst Impressions: You Can’t Go Wrong with the Fizz

 Those looking for their wine fix in March are in luck. The LCBO has got some real winners hitting the shelves this month. The focus is Spain and bubbly. The Spanish wine was run-of-the-mill so the bubbly is where I am going to focus my picks. You just can’t to

Negative Political Advertisements in 1988: The Blueprint for Today

 Any day you’re not moving the ball forward, it’s moving backward. Lee Atwater, the controversial Republican political consultant and mentor to Karl Rove, coined this insightful maxim while he was serving as the manager for George H. W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign. Atwater’s statement can be considered a timeless piece

Shallow Graves

 The Kingston Mills Locks are located off a road that snakes its way through north Kingston. They can be usefully described as a point at which the city merges with the countryside. It was here that on June 30th, 2009 the Kingston Police made the grim discovery. Three sisters and

Toronto Fashion Week Fall 2012: Day 4 & 5

 Toronto Fashion Week Day 4: Fashion was on the upswing on Day Four of Toronto Fashion Week when Pink Tartan and David Dixon showed their collections at the tents.  Twitter was a buzz with media and industry members gushing over each model as they came down the runway. Cheers were

Toronto Fashion Week Fall 2012: Day Three

 The energy was at an all time high on Day Three of World MasterCard Fashion Week with a cowboy themed collection and the much anticipated and sold out show which lived up to all of the hype. Montreal-based designer Melissa Nepton took to the stage with her signature simplicity in

Prepare for Spring with Total Cleanse

 Ottawa residents have been enjoying unseasonably warm weather these days and, given the welcomed change, many are starting to think of spring and even summer. Gradually, these thoughts of summer lead to a renewed focus on healthy eating and physical fitness. It’s time to get active, wipe the proverbial dietary

Toronto Fashion Week Fall 2012: Day Two

 It was a disappointment to many Adrian Wu fans in Ottawa when for unknown reasons he didn’t show his collection during Ottawa Fashion Week.  Adrian Wu has always made it publically known that he prefers to show his collection in Ottawa but has since only been attending Toronto Fashion Week. 

Looking down from Canada: The most important leader in the free world: Stephen Harper

 Michael Moriarty is now a regular columnist in our pages, offering his incisive, visionary, and sometimes controversial observations of the passing political scene in Canada and the United States. Mr. Moriarty believes these two nations sharing a common border are headed in opposite political directions, a subject he will explore

Toronto Fashion Week Fall 2012: Day One

 The ‘Canadian Catwalk’ kicked off Monday with designer Kirsten Korhani for Korhani Home.  The Korhani show is a favorite amongst editors and fashionistas alike with bold floor coverings made into gowns and ensembles. Every year, Kirsten Korhani creates exciting themes and transforms their renowned designs into jaw dropping collections.  With

Recipe: Home-made Mini Peanut Butter Cups

 Spring seems to finally be on its way to our nation's capital and it's nice to see the ground peaking out after months of nothing but the white blanket of snow. Soon the Easter holiday will be here and so will the time to indulge our sweet tooth (kids don't

The Hidden Cost Behind Cheap White Dress Shirts

 It is a shopper’s nature to pursue the best possible bargain, often sacrificing countless hours in the name of the hunt. As a youngster, I lost entire Saturday afternoons whenever my mother deemed it necessary to add to my “Sunday best” wardrobe, and dragged me through the city in search

“A House Divided Against Itself”: The 2012 Republican Race for the White House

 In the summer of 1858, two years before he would become the first Republican President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln uttered a phrase that still applies when he accepted his party’s nomination as the Republican U.S. Senate candidate for the state of Illinois. At the lectern in

Ottawa Life Interviews NDP Candidate Niki Ashton

 Editor’s Note: New Democratic Party leadership candidates Thomas Mulcair, Brian Topp, Martin Singh and Nathan Cullen did not respond to Ottawa Life Magazine’s request for an interview. Niki Ashton (born September 9, 1982) is currently the New Democratic Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Churchill in Manitoba. She was first elected in the 2008 federal

Education Series: Painting a Hopeful Picture for Ottawa Families

 Thinking in Pictures Educational Services (T.I.P.E.S.) has been bridging the gaps in Pervasive Developmental Disorder treatment in Ottawa for over five years. Sisters Deborah and Jennifer Wyatt spearheaded the enterprise. If you tell a child with autism that it’s raining cats and dogs outside, you might get a blank stare