Happy New Year!

I'm back!

I appologize to everyone for falling off the face of the earth for a bit, but I was on vacation!

I know that's the worst tradition ever and I'm not sure why it happens, but for some reason, since 2000 when I got severe mono on Christmas Eve, I get sick every year at Christmas. The whole fever, sniffly, sickly thing.

Since I almost always go home to Winnipeg for Christmas, I thought the weather and 8 family gatherings in 3 days were to blame. This year I swore not to get sick on Christmas and we packed up and drove down to North Carolina for a week to visit my Sister and her family. I thought avoiding the insanity and visiting a warmer climate would ensure my health this Christmas.

Well I was wrong. I woke up Christmas morning with a tickle in my throat and by nightfall I was achy, sniffly and sick. I felt worse on the 26th and even worse on the 27th. My dear sister pumped me full of cold medication and I did my best to stay positive and even headed out for a day of sight seeing.

Geeze, I look retarded here. Click on it for a closer look!

My sister took this picture. Generally I destroy this kind of evidence but we both look like such jerks here I had to leave it. It's just too funny.

We had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the vacation from our computers. I got my case replaced while I was gone so I no longer have a dirty little apple.

Now to nail down those pesky New Years resolutions.
Everyone, have a great time tonight! Happy New Year!

Laughed so hard I cried.

I had to pass on this blog post because it is just so hilarious. It involves babies in a bathtub. I'll say no more as you must read it for yourself!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays and that you've stuffed yourselves silly on all sorts of deliciously fattening food. We decided to do something different this year and drove down South to visit my niece and nephews.

I am currently surrounded by shreds of wrapping paper, ribbons, half opened toys and bits of pre-chewed food mashed into the carpet that were rejected by my two year old nephew with a loud, "Yuuuucky!"

We haven't seen much of the city yet but managed to squeeze in a little shopping. We're both impressed with how friendly everyone here is. We Canadians like to pride ourselves on our friendliness, but these N.C'give some serious competition. They are some of the nicest people we've ever met. You can cut them off in traffic (accidentally of course since we missed that last turn), ask silly questions at the cash register about your purchases with a mile long line up behind you and not one complaint. In Toronto we eat people alive for those kinds of offenses. Since this is my second visit here I know it's not just holiday cheer.

The only negative experience we had was one not so bright store clerk (S.B), who tried to tell us that a digital camera had to be at least 7 megapixels in order to be able to edit pictures.

S.B (southern belle): "Oh, Ah wouldn't ba anything less than 7 megapixels or it won't let you edit your pictures"

Me: "Um, yes you can. Whether it has 4 megapixels or 10, The editing is done on the computer not on the camera so, unless you plan on making giant posters that require that kind of resolution, a 5 mega pixel camera will be just fine."

S.B tittered patronizingly at me for a moment with a look on her face that said, wow you're stupid. Then said impatiently, "Ahm tellin' you if it's less than 7 megapixels you're hardly gonna be able to do anythin' at awl."

Right. Ok then. Alex led me out before I had a chance to educate her.

We're definitely enjoying our visit and plan on doing as little work as possible. Enjoy your time with your families and friends!

Ali + Alex

My First Attempt at Pole Dancing...

I finally got on the pole.

I make a habit of checking out the deals we offer on ChickAdvisor for, um, quality control purposes. I felt it was my moral obligation to test out pole dancing (how can I promote it if I haven't tried it?). So, I brought 3 ChickAdvisor members to Flirty Girl Fitness to test out the free class they're offering on our deals page. Everyone loved it! They had us doing all sorts of cool spins on the pole and we even learned a choreographed routine.

What surprised me the most was what a great workout it was. We were all sweating and sore later on.

Definitely the most fun workout I've ever done and I love the gym. The staff and other members were all really friendly too, which helped because we were all nervous about trying this.

Now how to convince Alex to install a pole in the living room...

An African Christmas

I just experienced the coolest corporate Christmas party I've ever been to. Alex works for a luxury travel company whose trips and parties are always unforgettable. Every year there is a new party theme and everyone comes out in full costume. Alex and I are always sadly under dressed because we don't have the same costume making skills his coworkers have, or frankly, the time. We were supposed to be Texan tourists but we failed badly...


Anyway, yesterday Alex comes home with 30 minutes to spare for the two of us to get ready. I asked him how we should dress. He said that some people were going as animals. Animals?? He wasn't kidding. There was an ape, a giraffe, a diamond miner (who slipped me a few "diamonds") and a dude wrapped in saran wrap. Can you guess what he was supposed to be? We were thinking maybe he was a condom but later he explained he was a mirage. Yep, that's the kind of creative characters Alex works with.

There were African dancers and the hotel ballroom was decked out magnificently. The owner came as a sheik and lounged on the pillows by the bar. It was a really fun night!

When Alex and I were about to leave, one of his coworkers sauntered over and attempted to prevent Alex from leaving.

"You know what I told my wife?" he slurred at both of us.

"I said. If yure gunna make me leave early from thissparty. I'm going by myshelf."

He stumbled back onto the dance floor. We got in the cab.

Introducing meebo!

We've just partnered with chat site meebo.com so you can connect with your friends and other ChickAdvisor members while you surf! It's really easy to set up and you can hook it up to your existing accounts such as msn, yahoo, googletalk and aim.

To set it up, go to meebo.com and create a meebo account. Then go to their widgets section, get their code snippet and embed it in your ChickAdvisor profile under Widgets.

Enjoy!

Farty Cows

Oooh, like this one too! How cow farts are bad for the environment.

Matt Damon Does Mathew McConaughey

Ahh... one hunk imitating another. Perfect.

Holiday Tipping in NYC

I found a great article on NYmag.com about holiday tipping that I just had to share. The following is based on a survey nymag did with 60 workers in New York's service sector to find out the average holiday tip. Here's the low down from nymag:

The Doorman
Average Holiday Tip: $98
Median Holiday Tip: $50
Average Forecast for 2006 Tips: $5,100
Percent of Clients Who Tip: 89%
Most Generous Tip or Gift: “$2,000 from one person.”

What They Really Think: “One resident gave me a stack of envelopes and asked me to divvy them up, but there wasn’t one for me. It was probably just an oversight.” “I’ve only declined a tip once, because it was $5 and I think they were trying to embarrass me.” “Renters tip less than owners.” “I don’t want wine or chocolate, just cash, only cash.” “We all know what the others get.” “And we like to lie about it and say we got more.”


The Garage Attendant
Average Holiday Tip: $48
Median Holiday Tip: $47.50
Average Forecast for 2006 Tips: $2,800
Percent of Clients Who Tip: 73%
Most Generous Tip or Gift: “$400 from one person.”

What They Really Think: “The more rich you are, the less you give.” “I have a guy with a Porsche. Last year, he gave $100 and I told him I deserved more. Right away he gave me $400.” “I use my tip money to go to my country, the Dominican Republic.” “I want to go to Las Vegas with mine.” “I’ll give people a car wash to get more.” “If I get too much, I have to tell the company.” “The tips are better on the Upper West Side than on the East Side.”


The Colorist and Hairdresser
Average Holiday Tip: $79
Median Holiday Tip: $77.50
Average Forecast for 2006 Tips: $7,000
Percent of Clients Who Tip: 80%
Most Generous Tip or Gift: “A plane ticket to London for New Year’s Eve.”

What They Really Think: “I call my clients on their birthdays. By the time the holiday comes around, they remember me.” “The ones that you are much more friendly with are the bigger tippers. It makes me wonder, Should I be tipping my therapist?” “I was tipped better when I cut hair uptown.” “One time, a really good client tipped me a check and it bounced. She was going through a divorce, and it was a joint account.” “Europeans don’t tip as well.”

The Dog Walker
Average Holiday Tip: $41
Median Holiday Tip: $37.50
Average Forecast for 2006 Tips: $255
Percent of Clients Who Tip: 63%
Most Generous Tip or Gift: “$300 plus a gourmet food basket.”

What They Really Think: “Sometimes people tip a very small amount; I’d rather get nothing.” “I’ll leave the dogs little gifts, pick up an extra bag of treats, put a ribbon on it for bigger tips.” “The wife will usually give me more than the husband.” “I’ll be a little extra-friendly to get bigger tips.” “My best tippers are not the wealthiest.”

The Personal Trainer
Average Holiday Tip: $188
Median Holiday Tip: $100
Average Forecast for 2006 Tips: $1,688
Percent of Clients Who Tip: 65%
Most Generous Tip or Gift: “$5,000 and a round-trip ticket for two to anywhere I wanted.”

What They Really Think: “Usually they give me the amount I charge for a session.” “There have been unsatisfying nonmoney gifts. Someone gave me a basket of candy. It was just silly.” “For me, it’s usually a handshake or a hug. Definitely eye contact to show appreciation.” “I’ve been known to give the next session for free as a thank-you.” “I give them jump ropes and free triathlon training.”


The Nanny
Average Holiday Tip: $349
Median Holiday Tip: $300
Average Forecast for 2006 Tips: $417
Percent of Clients Who Tip: 90%
Most Generous Tip or Gift: “A trip to the Bahamas.”

What They Really Think: “Any tip is a good tip.” “If I’m working on an actual holiday, I expect to be paid generously.” “Two weeks’ pay is typical, but $350 shows she doesn’t appreciate my work. I deserve $2,000.” “I get more money if the kids are difficult.” “I don’t really acknowledge a tip unless it’s unusually generous. Then I just say thank you.” “I definitely know rich people that stiff their nannies.”




Yikes! And we thought Christmas shopping for the family was expensive enough!
But as a friend of mine told me who used to live in New York, service industry workers in New York take their professions very seriously. They go the extra mile for you because it's a matter of pride. You tip them because they deserve it and worked hard for it.

Italy's Anorexia Summit

It's called The National Manifesto of Self-Regulation, and it is a plan devised by the Italian state and luxury industry authorities to respond to growing concerns about eating disorders rampant with young models.

According to Fashion Wire Daily, the goal is to, "create a manifesto governing models' size that will be signed by designers, big brands, model agencies, photographers and make up artists " before the next season which begins January 14th. The Manifesto states that models must have a body mass index or BMI of at least 18. So for example, models who are 5 feet 9 inches tall must weigh a minimum of about 123 pounds or 56 kilos.

This comes on the heels of the deaths of models Ana Carolina Reston, 21 of Brazil and Luisel Ramos, 22 of Uroguay whose diets consisted of apples and tomatoes (Reston), and lettuce leaves and diet coke (Ramos). Reston died of liver failure and Ramos of a heart attack during Fashion Week in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Source

Kelly Video: Shoes

This is so ridiculous I had to share it.

MissChickie Attempts to "Vlog"

I sometimes find writing hard because it's not my #1 strength. So, in keeping with the new video reviews on the website I decided to do a video blog or "vlog" for those of you who do this on a regular basis.

Watch as I embarrass myself!

Get On The Pole. You Know You Want To.

Well at least I certainly wanted to after going to Flirty Girl Fitness to meet with Co-Founder, Krista Knee and make this video. It's an amazing workout and I can't wait to try it though I envision myself garnering at least one bloody nose.

Who's coming with me?
Flirty Girl is offering 1 FREE first time class exclusively for ChickAdvisor members valued at $20. Print off the offer from our Deals section to redeem. (Should be up shortly)

More Stuff Coming Soon!!

Where'd You Get That? Is Alive!

Here's our first attempt at street fashion with Where'd You Get That? We stop total strangers on the street and find out where they bought their clothes. Weee!

This particular episode was shot in November on campus at Ryerson University and is just a snippet of some of the cool stuff we found. We'd like to show more stylin' people in the future but for now we're just getting our feet wet and decided to keep it short and sweet.

We also went to private Toronto boutique Poa Studio and interviewed hip and fabulous owner Catherine Pacak on what's hot this spring.

We shot another episode of Where'd You Get That? in October at the Toronto Eaton Centre which I'm still trying to salvage but there were some technical difficulties so it may just resurface one day as a spoof episode where everything went wrong. We'll see...

Anyway, love it? hate it? I'm open to your feedback.

And The Award For Funniest Gift Goes To...

What do you buy for the ambitious girl friend who has it all, the office gift exchange, or better yet, your demanding female boss?

How 'bout a little BALLBUSTER Cream?

While the witty packaging alone is reason enough to buy it with it's big nutcracker and inspirational quote from Art of War, “Hold out bait to entice the enemy. Feign disorder and crush him”, you’ve got a perfect quirky gift (read: gag gift) for that hard to shop for career woman, femme fatale or just keep it for yourself!

This all natural cream is packed with essential oils and Shea Butter and has a delicate citrusy scent. Though it's meant as a hand cream, I slathered it on my elbows and feet too.

Corner Office Beauty carries a number of humorous all natural beauty products to suit many occasions in a woman's life including Transition Man Soap to help you, "Move on already" and "wash away the regret" after a bad break up.

Soccermom and Career Bitch perfume, Whistle BlowerLip Armor and Trophy Husband Shower Gel are also great gift ideas, which will surely bring a smile to even the Scroogiest of faces.

ChickAdvisor FREEBIE ALERT!

We're giving away a FREE BALLBUSTER (value of $22) courtesy of Corner Office Beauty just for adding a new video review on ChickAdvisor!*

*limit of 1 BALLBUSTER per member while supplies last. Shipping to Canada and USA only.

Winners of Our Latest Sephora Contest!

Thanks to everyone who participated in our contest to win 1 of 5 $100 gift certificates to Sephora! Your reviews help grow our site into a more relevant resource for you and other "chicks"!

Congratulations to our winners, Amanda, StarTammy, ilikecitylights, Christina and hankscorpio!

All winners have been contacted by email. Stay tuned, we have lots of fun things planned!!

Diapers and Dolls and Toys, Oh My!

For the past week our apartment has been taken over by something other than computers and programmers. Family!! To be exact, 7 family members, 3 of whom were under 7 years old. I had no idea my apartment could even get that messy or I could be that tired.

Barbies and toy cars everywhere and the smell of diapers in the air, I don't know how my sister does it and still looks so fabulous. I enjoy my auntie-hood very much and we had a lot of fun skating, swimming and seeing the sites but I had no idea how much work and how little sleep is involved with small children. I truly believe mothers have the toughest job of all.

Still, they've just left and I already miss hearing my toddler nephew pleading, "I tooo!" when he wanted to be included in something and the baby drooling and gurgling all over me with a huge grin on his chubby little face and my niece who has just learned to skate saying in her sweet tiny southern accent, "Ahm faahn" (I'm fine) every time she fell down and picked her self back up with a smile determined to become a better skater.

This morning I dropped my Mom off, the last of my cherished visitors. I'm exhausted but I can't wait to do it all over again.

Video Reviews!

We've just launched video reviews with videoegg! You can now show us that bad haircut or that gorgeous new lipstick with a video review! You can either upload a video from your computer, camera or cell phone or record it with your webcam instantly. Try it!

*videoegg does not support firefox on Macs, so if you are a Mac user, please use safari. You may be required to install a plugin if you don't have one.

Where'd You Get That?

We women check each other out all the time. C'mon admit it! You see a well dressed person walk by, give them the once over and wonder where they bought that gorgeous bag or those sexy shoes. Most of us don't have the guts to stop a stranger and ask them where they shop.

Well, I think it's time someone did.

We've been working on a show called Where'd You Get That? where we go out on the street with our cameras and find the well dressed, then find out where they shop and how much they spent. It was so much fun!

I shot it as part of a school project, but am considering making it a regular podcast if it works out (and when the weather is better in the spring).

We shot one episode in October which was unfortunately fraught with technical difficulties and probably won't see the light of day (sorry to the fashionably few who would have appeared on that episode). The episode we shot this month on campus at Ryerson was cleaner so we'll be putting that live later this week or next.

In the mean time, my Bubbleshare slider on the left is from both shoots to give you a sneak peak.

Fun, fun!

*Sasha gets her style from London England's Top Shop

What NOT to buy her for Christmas

This is for the dude who runs into the mall on Christmas eve 30 min before the stores close and frantically buys the first thing he sees. I'd like to help you...

My brother is infamous in the family for his last minute Christmas shopping escapades. Though he's extremely smart and capable, he has never been able to conquer Christmas shopping and has on occasion, done a terrible job indeed.

One such occasion is now known in our family as simply, the "Safeway Incident". It was Christmas Eve at 4:45pm. All of the stores were closing at 5pm. We were at a family gathering when it suddenly dawned on my brother that he had yet to do any Christmas shopping. He quietly slipped out and drove to the nearest store. Any store would do, he thought as he pulled into the Safeway parking lot at 4:55pm. For those of you who don't have Safeway, that is a GROCERY STORE.

My brother thought he was very smart as he manically pushed the grocery cart around the store grabbing random cans of this, a bag of apples, a bag of that, trying to cover off everyone in his list before the store closed. Luckily they happened to have a few Christmas teddy bears on display so he grabbed a couple of those too.

Just in the nick of time, he had grocery store presents for everyone on his list. He was actually proud of himself.

We never let him live it down.

I've started a discussion of what not to buy her in our forums here. Please participate. Then make your man read it.

Call For Help TV and Me!

I recently had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Amber MacArthur over a manicure. She's a true girl's girl and a rising star on the web and tv. Aside from her giving me some fantastic career advice, she hooked me up! And, as a result I was invited to appear on Call For Help as a guest to talk about ChickAdvisor today. Yay!

At first I was pretty nervous thinking they'd be asking me all of these difficult technical questions (being a techie show and all), but they didn't and it was actually fun! The producers and hosts were so fun - esp Leo LaPorte who was fascinated by my shoes. Sorry, Leo. I don't think they come in your size ;)

The show is airing December 26th.

Krafty Kameleon: It All Began at Beads on 5th

"We were in New York for the weekend and my wife and I wandered into the bead stores because she loves this stuff and I started looking at all of the different beads, the glass, the wood, and the pearls. I started tinkering around thinking, I’ll make her a souvenir from New York.”

So Paolo Fietta set out to make his wife a necklace and so it began. “She started wearing the pieces to work and her coworkers kept asking her where she got her jewelry.”

Husband and wife team, Paolo and Pina Fietta turned their love of making jewelry into a business with newly launched www.kraftykameleon.com.

Krafty Kameleon carries a fabulous collection of high quality handmade rings, necklaces and bracelets with fresh water pearls, Swarovsky crystals, a range of semi-precious stones, shell, crystals and glass including fire jade, turquoise, coral, sponge coral, porcelain beads from Lisbon, citrine, peridot, walnut wood, poppy jasper, black onyx, sterling silver and murano glass.

Pina has always had a passion for jewelry, and both she and Paolo have family histories of Italian artisans working with stone, marble, wood and glass.

“I grew up working with stone and wood", says Paolo. "I also have a particular affinity for murano glass because I grew up close to the industry and I’d always seen the masters at work, I mean the stuff that they’d make out of glass was amazing. I have uncles and relatives who are artisans with wood and ceramics so you’re just inspired.”

Krafty Kameleon makes custom orders so if you see something you like but you’d prefer it in a different color or length or style, it’s no problem.

Now imagine getting one of these gems for 50% off! To celebrate the launch of their website this fall, Krafty Kameleon is offering 50% off of 10 selected items exclusively for ChickAdvisor members.

Simply click on the ChickAdvisor Exclusives link to see the selection.

*Discounted Items are first come first served. All prices are in Canadian dollars and they ship to Canada and U.S.A. Offer is limited to 1 discounted item per person.

www.kraftykameleon.com

Will Farrell is The Phantom of the Opera

I think this is definitely my favorite version so far. Enjoy!

Britney Spears Files for Divorce from K-Fed

Ok once again I break my own rule about not talking about celebrities, but I just read on Rogers, Daily Dish that Britney Spears has filed for divorce from Kevin Federline. They've been married since 2004 and have 2 kids.

I think a lot of people are very happy for her now.

Only 1 Week Left to Enter Sephora Contest!

The contest expires Wed November 15th.

Pssst! The odds of winning here are really good!

Enter away, my lovelys!

NOW Lounge Fails the Latté Factor

Café hopping is one of the few pleasures I have left in life since I became a workaholic. I love the music, the fact that my frothy beverage messes up someone else's hard to clean cappuccino maker instead of my own, and I get to observe people who have a life.

However, if the music is bad or worse, the coffee is bad I start to feel resentful. Like today for instance. I first went to the Bulldog Coffee near campus, which was recommended to me by a fellow student who shared my love of good coffee, but the tiny little place was quite crowded and I didn't want to take up a seat for the 1 1/2 hours I needed. So I went down the street several blocks to NOW Lounge.

At first it all looked good. Lots of space, comfortable seating, nice lighting, but my latté was terrible so I promptly wrote a review about it on C.A, "While I salute NOW Lounge for the free Internet access and comfortable environment/funky music, I spit upon your lattes. For starters, no Lactose-free milk, 2nd, this is the yuckiest latte I've ever had and the barista made it so overflowing, I've already spilled on my jeans. I've been here a few times before but never ordered coffee. I won't order coffee here again..." And so on, and so forth.

I just feel mislead. If you're going to have a cappuccino machine of that caliber behind the counter, the drinks d@mn well better be good!

I knew I should have gone to B Espresso Bar. I'm sorry I strayed!

It won't happen again.

Exam Skin

Exams are just bad for so many reasons...
You eat more, you sleep and excercise less, you rest your chin on your hand and voila! Up pops a new crop of zits you never saw coming. You look like a teenager again, and not in a good way.

Even though this has happened to me without fail every November and April, I still binge on chocolate icecream and sit for hours at my computer with my jaw in hand creating the perfect breeding ground for embarrasing ugly pimples.

I have yet to figure out a solution I can live with. I'm not prepared to give up the chocolate icecream (it's survival ok???) and I've tried to keep my hands off my face but when I'm that tired, it's just not possible.

On the bright side, I plan to go for an oxygen facial at Elixir later in the month (50% off!!) Let's hope that helps!

Anyone have any other suggestions on how to clear up exam skin?

Oh, and BTW, as I'm typing this Cat Woman is playing in the background and I'm so embarrassed for Halle. No wonder she got a Raspberry for that. I blush on her behalf!

How to Stay Chirpy While Raising Funding

1. Pretend those outstanding bills are really fan mail!

2. Ask the staff if you can start paying them in chocolate chip cookies!

3. Imagine every investor who turns you down twirling around in his or her underpants!

4. Offer to write up a really swell review for your landlord in lieu of this month's rent!

5. Spend a little time each day perusing travel sites for exotic places you'll visit when you hit it big.

6. As a Christmas gift to your co-founder, cuddle up 'round the computer and read the blog posts you wrote for each other!

7. Pretend you're famous on the subway. Wear dark sunglasses and try to look important. Who knows? That person staring at you across the car could be one of your unique visitors!

8. Prepare an acceptance speech in front of the mirror. This will come in mighty handy when your site becomes wildly successful and you're getting awards out of the wazoo, but remember to practice pausing in between sentences for the thunderous applause.

Why Aren't Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret in Canada?

Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works and all you other American chains who refuse to come to Canada, I have a bone to pick with you.

What's keeping you from gracing us with your presence north of the border? Every time I'm in the U.S I go hog wild in Bath & Body works and for that matter, so do most of my Canadian friends. Victoria's Secret, what's your excuse? Did it ever occur to you that we too would like the opportunity to look like Giselle Bündchen? We plan pajama parties around your catalog so we can buy in bulk, yet after all these years, you still haven't opened a store here.
If Abercrombie + Fitch could do it, so could you! It's hard to pass by their scented stores with half naked models standing in the entrance flexing with their $200 holeseverywherejeans, without thinking fondly of the good 'ole U.S of A. (BTW, is that spectacle supposed to be sexy or funny?) But, I digress.

We Canadian Chicks can't think of a single good reason for you not having stores in Canada. That is, of course unless you're scared. Ooooh! Can't handle a little competition from your compadres La Senza, La Vie En Rose, Fruits and Passion and The Body Shop?

Or maybe it's the weather?

Busted! Misschickie Breaks the Law for a Plate of Brownies

This morning I was running some errands and stopped by my husband's office to drop off his phone that he forgot, and some brownies I made to bribe his coworkers into adding stuff for my website - er, I mean, just for the heck of it.

Because his office doesn't have any parking whatsoever, there was nowhere legal for me to park the car temporarily. I couldn't unlock Alex's treo to call him to come down to the car because I forgot the password and I didn't have my cell phone with me either.

So, I broke the law. I parked in a little mini driveway beside his building that dead-ended at a chain link fence, which was padlocked and didn't look like it'd be opening any time soon. I admit there were signs everywhere that said no parking, but I only needed a minute. I put my hazards on and ran inside.

I was literally inside for 3 minutes but when I came back to the car I was attacked by two furious old ladies. Apparently that chain link fence does open and their car was trying to get out.

"You almost got ticketed and towed away, you know!" The first biddy bellowed.

"That's right", chimed in biddy #2, "We called the Police on you!"

The Police? Whatever happened to the good 'ole parking ticket guy?

I apologized profusely and told them I just ran in to drop something off. "I don't care why you did it!! You had no right to park there! We couldn't get out because of you!"

"The Police are on their way!" shrieked biddy #2.

Okee dokee. Clearly they were not feeling my apology. I got in the car and sped away. I passed 2 policemen on the way home and my heart was racing. Then I realized how ridiculous the whole thing was and laughed all the way home.

I know it was inconsiderate of me to park in a no parking zone, but please. I'm sure the police have better things to do with their time. Such Drama!

I bet those old ladies scolded about it for the rest of the afternoon.

Bigger Profile Pic's + 20 Questions on C.A

When we release new stuff on ChickAdvisor, I'll talk about it here too so that you all know what's going on.

You can now upload a bigger picture of yourself for your profile. People no longer have to squint to see you :) If you've already uploaded a picture previously, you'll have to upload a new one in order for it to be bigger otherwise it would be very fuzzy.

We've also added a fun 20 Questions tab to your profile. You'll have the option of filling this out when you register for ChickAdvisor but if you're already registered you simply go under your profile, click on the 20 Questions tab and fill it out. Here's mine.

For both the picture and the questions, make sure you submit the changes in order to update your profile.

I'm looking forward to seeing what people write!

My Super Secret Up-Coming Show!

I've been working on something that I'm very excited about and I really want to talk about it, but can't really until it's ready.

Let's just say I'm working on a little podcast that has been a dream project of mine for a few months. My first filming was last week and it was a lot of fun.

People act so crazy around cameras. They'll make weird faces, give you bunny ears and hoot as they walk by or come and stand right in the shot and stare into the camera or worse, wave. At one point, this old lady came and stood right beside me while I was doing my opening stand-up and glared into the camera. My crew started laughing hysterically but since I didn't see her I thought it was because I'd done a bad job with my stand up. But when I reviewed the footage and saw her.. hello Baba!

Some random photographer started taking pictures of us. Now try performing with all of that going on. Luckily it didn't bother me too much, I mostly thought it was pretty funny as long as it didn't ruin the shot. You'd think people were used to cameras by now but I guess not.

I'm shooting again on Saturday. Let's hope the weather cooperates!!

My show will be ready some time in November. I'll keep you posted.

Toronto Fashion Week Spring/Summer '07

I had the privilege of attending a few shows last week including my absolute favorite, Andy Thê-Anh, whose collection was gorgeous as usual. I tried to snag an interview with him before the show, but he just looked at me like "who are you?" promised to talk to me later (a polite way of saying bugger off) and then scurried away. It was the nicest brush-off I've ever had. I'm like, "Sounds great, Andy!" like we're old friends or something. He probably just took one look at my cheapie camera, my less than fashionable outfit and went, see ya later.


Ah well, his collection was amazing.
Gorgeous shimmery lace dresses, blouses that ruffled at the elbow, sexy body skimming skirts with a little gathering of ruffles at the back... I wanted every piece. Even the swimwear was to die for, though it would require 24/7 effort at the gym to pull it off. The hair and makeup was stunning. Very French. Thick black eyelashes, black eyeliner, perfect brows and deep red lips.
I love that he has kept the lady in style this season.

We also took in the fun flirty collection from Bustle. Think Lacoste meets Abercrombie + Fitch. The models strutted down a stretch of fake lawn sporting blue tooth, cell phones and ipods with cute tennis skirts, polos and jackets. Fresh crisp colors like white and green were the themes.
The whole experience was fun as usual and I had it filmed by no other than an Emmy award winning Director who spent a season directing the Oprah Winfrey show (yes, for real!!) His name is Dale LoFranco and he helped me out as a personal favor. My knees were literally knocking as I stood out on the runway between shows doing a standup student style in front of this guy. I kept thinking this man has filmed Oprah. Oprah!! (My personal hero and person I would most love to meet). I must have looked like such a fool in comparison. But he's an incredibly nice man. He's an American in Canada with his own company but looking to work locally so he can travel less and help take care of his 2-year-old grand daughter suffering from a rare form of cancer. I was honored to have him helping me and I'm putting together a little piece on Fashion Week that I might just post here (providing my editing skills don't embarrass me too badly).

According to Canadian designers, the bottom line for spring '07 is short short skirts, crisp white or classic black, long thick eyelashes, and show a lot of leg.

I think I'll be spending a little more time at the gym from now on...

Find Your Dream Jeans With Zafu

It's so hard to find the perfect pair of jeans. With so many brands designed for different body types, how do you know which is the best fit for you without trying on 100 pairs? The Jean Team at Zafu.com has the answer.

Using a fun and easy quiz format about your body type, how jeans typically fit you, what kind of style you're looking for and your weight, measurements and preferences, they find a slew of options that will best compliment your figure.

Your personalized results show you a batch of jeans that will best fit you, another batch that will fit you well, and then pages and pages of other options to choose from. They tell you what size you should buy, and link you to stores online where you can buy them.

Sweet! You no longer have to wrestle it out alone in the change room.

We tested it ourselves and were surprised to find that some of their top recommendations were a pair of Citizens (Ava) we'd already tried and fallen in love with, and a few we'd been eyeing. Yup, we’re sold!

If you’re still a scaredy cat of online shopping and live in the Toronto area, try Body Blue Denim Lab for excellent personalized service and selection or Hill Street Blues for buy one get one half off for a huge range of designer brands all the time.

Oh My! What a Dirty Purse You Have!

A friend of mine recently told me something about handbags that every woman should consider. Think about all of the places you plop down your purse: On the kitchen counter, on the floor of a public washroom, in a grocery cart, in a gym change room and if you're a mother, on a restroom diaper change table.

Now how many of you go home and wipe off the bottom of your bag before you put it back in the closet? Not me! While my bags have touched every one of these groady surfaces (and often!), I've never wiped them down and worse; I usually chuck them on the table or counter when I get home. Just think about all of the bacteria that's been collected. Yummy!

Last spring, CBS3.com tested the bacteria found on the bottom of the average bag and the results are horrifying: "We found pseudomonas, staphylococcus aureus, e-coli family and we also found salmonella... Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aureus can cause serious skin infections and salmonella and e-coli found on the purses can make you very sick."

I'm thinking I'll never put my bag on the floor again!

Oh! And if you think that's gross you'll probably never wear outdoor shoes inside the house ever again either because shoes have it worse.

Calling All Newbies

If you are, or know of, a new company launching something fabulous for women, we want to talk to you.

It could be a brand new nail bar, a new cosmetics or jewelry company or a new restaurant. Whatever it is and wherever it is we want to know about it.

Good stuff to come!

Please contact me at ali (at) chickadvisor.com for more info :)

Britney Spears... Is a Tiger??

Heavy breathing, tiger growling, Britney becoming a tiger. I'm sorry, but when I see something this dumb I have no choice but to make fun of it.

Brit's official website is under construction. I shudder to think how the rest of it will turn out. Perhaps she'll be stalking a gazelle or licking herself... Ummm, I'll just leave it at that.

Who Do You Tip?

It seems everyone in the service industry should be getting a tip these days. This was a big discussion I had recently with a couple of friends and we all came to the same conclusion: We're confused.

One friend is from New York City where she says tipping 30% at restaurants is the norm. My other friend and I both moved to Toronto from the Prairies where only exceptional service would generally earn a tip above 10%.

Aside from the confusion over how much to tip, we're also confused about whom to tip. New York Friend (NYF) says service is taken very seriously in the Big Apple. Door men remember your name, what you're doing, what your plans are and help you carry your things (Yes, just like the movies!!). When Christmas rolls around you tip each doorman generously and don't forget to add a Christmas bonus for your hair stylist and colorist.

In Toronto I know to tip 15 - 20% at restaurants, 15% at hair salons and spas, a couple bucks to the cab driver, and a few to the delivery guy, and that's about it.

NYF said she tips the plumber when he comes by and basically any kind of repairman. Prairie Chick and I were like, what??

Recently I had my messy apartment cleaned by CleanFreaks and I realized I had no idea if I should tip them or not. I should have asked them but I was embarrassed by my ignorance and didn't say anything.

So, what I'd like is a comprehensive list of people I should tip in every major city. I'd hate to be the jerk that shafts someone.

So, lets make this a little informal poll. Who do you tip in your city and how much is appropriate? You can add your comments with your city below.

Winnipeg is Live on C.A!

We've just launched Winnipeg on ChickAdvisor!

It can be viewed by changing the pulldown on the right green panel under MY CHICKADVISOR.

Thanks to the gals who entered so many awesome reviews that we launched that city much faster than we intended to. We'd planned to get to it eventually but a few of you put in so many fantastic reviews we had no choice but to flip the switch early. We'll be working to get some exclusive deals for Winnipeg like we did for Toronto under the deals tab in the near future.

Enjoy!

If you'd like to see your city on ChickAdvisor faster, add reviews and get your friends to do the same. Once there are enough reviews for each section (at least 10), we'll flip the switch! If your city isn't on our list, email us and we'll add it just for you!

Thanksgiving With The In-Laws

The weather was gorgeous but the drive out to visit the In-Laws was grueling. What was supposed to take 4 hours took 7, and we promised each other, as my aging standard rocked in and out of first gear, never to do that to ourselves again. Long weekend travel out of Toronto is historically a nightmare yet somehow we thought we could beat it this time.

We arrived safely late Friday night and the In-Laws had hugs, pizza and wine waiting for us when we got there.

Before we left, Alex warned them that we would have to get a little work in while we were there since we can't very well shut the website down for the weekend.

My in-laws are fantastic people. They came to Canada as students, got their PhD’s and raised several children. They also happen to both be amazing cooks. I really admire them. However, I'm still getting to know them and I find myself from time to time stepping on their toes without meaning to.

This weekend I stepped on them again.

I spent the bulk of Saturday with my M.I.L running a few errands, having lunch, going for a walk, going to her favorite boutique. She showed me around the yard, we smelled the flowers and then late in the afternoon, she took up the paper to read for a while. I thought, what a perfect opportunity to get a little work done! We were both sitting in the living room and I pulled out my laptop and began working. As she read the paper she commented on what she was reading and I, being the able multi-tasker I am, responded and we carried on pleasantly for quite some time.

When Alex and my F.I.L came back to the house, M.I.L announced (and I only use accents here so you feel like you were there), "Aleee has not es-stopped workeeng this chwhole afternoon."

I looked up awkwardly from writing my story on reducing stress with flaming cheeks. I closed the laptop for a moment or two but no one really reacted and everyone started doing something independently. Alex plopped down on the couch beside me and turned on the TV. My F.I.L poured himself a glass of red wine (with ice) and my M.I.L did something in the kitchen. Thinking it was no big deal, I opened my laptop again to finish what I was doing. No sooner had I done that than she walks over and says, "Alex, she chas been working almost allll afternoon!"

I elbowed Alex discreetly. We have this rule that I deal with my parents and he deals with his for the simple reason that we each know our own parents best and therefore how to handle any given situation. That plus I was trying to remind him that he was supposed to have discussed this with them in advance so I didn't feel like a first class boob working while we were there.

He got the hint. "Ma, think of it as an experiment you're working on. You can't just leave it because it’s the weekend. We have to check in on ours too from time to time."

"We deedin't schedule ours for the hol-e-days!" She went back into the kitchen. F.I.L gave a disapproving look in my direction. I closed my laptop.

And so, I didn't get much work done this weekend, though I had hoped to wrap up a few new articles since the category level ones are getting somewhat crusty and my blog has been much neglected.

On the bright side, the turkey dinner on Sunday night was unbelievable and we made the drive back in 4 1/2 hours. They treated us royally, we shared a lot of laughs and late-night scrabble; and with my own family living thousands of miles away, I was very grateful for my time at the in-laws despite getting in trouble.

Share Your Opinion and Enter to Win 1 of 5 $100 Gift Certificates for Sephora!

Love sharing your opinion on products and services for Chicks? Love makeup?

Regardless of what your answer is, this is the contest for you. Why? Because Christmas is around the corner and precious little beats a $100 gift certificate for Sephora. All you have to do is click on the banner ad that *magically* appears on the homepage and enter one review on a product or service for women and voila! You're in!

Enter up to 3 times to increase your chances of winning!

The contest is open to American and Canadian residents, excluding where prohibited by law. You will be asked to create a ChickAdvisor account if you aren't already a member.

Good luck!

Freak'in Clean!

Today I experienced my very first clean from cleanfreaks.org, a Toronto based company that uses all natural and environmentally friendly products to make your home sparkle.

At first I was a bit embarrassed bringing two strangers into my home to deal with the filth we've accumulated this summer due to 30 hour coding sessions and running around without hardly any time to vacuum, but owners pink haired Danielle and purple haired Rob, quickly put me at ease about my messy abode, assuring me they'd seen much worse.

They whipped our place into shape in about 1 1/2 hours laughing and joking with me as they cleaned.

I loved the fresh smell of Danielle's home made teatree oil, lavender and water cleaner that she used on the mirrors. Teatree and lavender are natural cleaning agents, she explained, and you can easily make your own! She also uses micro-fibre cloths, which are more effective at removing bacteria and dust than anti-bacterial cleaners.



So what's the best way for a gal on the go to keep her place from turning into a dump?

#1. "Pretend your mother is coming over in 15 minutes" Danielle suggests. Do a quick tidy for 15 minutes every day putting stuff away. Clutter in a small space makes things look messier than they are.

#2. Keep your faucets shiny. Nothing says clean like gleaming faucets - even if they aren't that clean.

#3. Purge! If you have a lot of stuff, there are more places for dust to collect, which is largely responsible for allergies and musty smells.

#4. Get a small bin for papers, bills and other clutter that find their way out of the study and onto the dining room table. Chuck your papers into the bin and you can easily take it to the appropriate room.

Check them out on our deals page for an exclusive discount!


www.cleanfreaks.org

15 Minutes of Fame With Red Canary

Since we launched ChickAdvisor on September 2nd, we've been getting a lot of attention on the web. We got some nice feedback from Mashable, Amanda Congdon (formerly of Rocketboom), been featured on runningwithfoxes, tagged on Del.icio.us, and gotten a bunch of cool new members and reviews from many other great sites.

Last week, we had our first official interview with Red Canary, a website about startups. I was also asked to write something to go with our piece. "Write about whatever you want” he said.

Well, I read the posts from other startups he'd featured and they all sounded really serious and educational. I didn't want to even attempt to write anything like that because A: What do I know, and B: Who cares? I'd rather talk about where to buy designer stuff for cheap or which pastry shop sells the best croissants or who in this city can give me some decent highlights?? That plus, truthfully, I didn't want to even try to compete with the smarty-pants* already featured on the site.

In the end, however I attempted to sound intelligent talking about the difficulties of being a woman in the biz... yada yada yada, but honestly, I'd rather not talk about that. I wish I didn't have to. But as I've been learning in my PR class, women are still paid $.76 to the dollar (to this day!) compared to their male counterparts, and I think it's complete nonsense. I'd like to see the day where skin color, gender, etc, don't matter and we all just see each other as people end of story.

One day, perhaps!

*No disrespect intended to any of the smarty-pants. You're all very interesting intelligent people, and I'm sure we'd all get along fabulously.

Oprah for President?

Where do these people come from? I read an article on my Rogers Yahoo about a man who is campaigning for Oprah to become the President of the United States by 2008.

He's created the strangest little website to promote his cause complete with an un-authorized photo of Oprah and a home made theme song that you can listen to by clicking on the theme song link.

His main reason for promoting Oprah? "She wouldn't bomb anyone."

You can sing along with the backup vocals and oooh-e-oooh's at the end.

Surviving the Sample Sale

You're in a nightclub at 2:00 in the afternoon. The music is thumping and the lighting is dim. You've elbowed your way through the crowed, plowed through piles of designer jeans and quietly mooned each other in an open change room as you squeezed into one pair of ill fitting jeans after the next.

Welcome to the Sample Sale.

This afternoon the club was Republik, the event was a D.C Sample Sale, and I was one of the mooners. I sweat, I struggled, I squinted in the darkly lit change room trying to determine if what I was trying on was flattering or not, but everything looked terrible... from what I could make of it in the dark anyway.

What I really wanted was to walk away with a pair of Rock & Republic jeans for $225 or the cute 7's for $150, but I looked like either a stuffed sausage or like I was wearing oversized hand-me-downs, and nothing in between.

One heavy set girl trotted out in front of me and asked my opinion on her Citizens. "Does this make my butt look big?" (Crap!) Yes, I'm afraid it does, but who am I to judge? After all, I was wearing heavy winter boots over a worn looking pair of Buffalo jeans that really didn't do me justice. I was a walking billboard for What Not to Wear. (It looked cold out, ok??)

"I'd probably try another size", I suggested. "Right", she said, "I guess my butt's too small for these ones."

Bless her. I hope she had better luck than I did.

My Dirty Little Apple

I joined the Apple bandwagon this spring when my old refurbished IBM laptop was put into forced retirement. I needed something to do presentations with that had a battery that actually worked, and could do more than send emails and word processing. So in June, I bought my first squeaky clean white Apple Notebook.

Well, it's not looking so hot anymore. What was once a pristine white keyboard now has black marks from the palms of my hands that don’t wash off (and I'm a very clean person, thank you very much!), the mousepad is looking worn, and my computer clock thinks it is two days ago.

I realize I use my computer more than most and hardly ever turn it off, but I didn't think I'd be seeing noticeable wear in just 3 months.

I've heard this is a problem for many Mac users. So... my dear Mac People, may I suggest that you focus a little less on your cutesy commercials and a little more on ensuring your product doesn't look like crappola after a few month's use?

Mucho Gracias!

Feeling Like a Person Again

Alex outside Le Gourmand earlier this week for breakfast with computers (sad, I know)

I must say this has been a really fun weekend! Alex and I basically shut down our social lives for the past few months because we were busily working on ChickAdvisor, but this weekend we decided to breathe a little easier and have some fun!

On Friday, to cap off our busy week, we headed to Schmooze (think: cheap drinks, and a lot of bald heads), to help a friend celebrate her birthday. Despite the fact that we were exhausted we enjoyed being away from our computers and watching the bartenders light the bar on fire with lighter fluid. Who hoo!

When we came home, we quickly deleted the entry some thoughtful soul had put on ChickAdvisor for Anal Lube... thanks a lot buddy!

On Saturday we took in the Queen West Art Crawl where I tried to find an artist I met this summer at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit. I discovered this jewelry maker who made gorgeous chainlink silver necklaces with chunky glass pendants. I fell in love with a heart shaped one that was all swirly with pink and red, but was too cheap to buy it at the time. Fool! I took her business card, then promptly lost it, and have been trying to track her down ever since. Anyhoo, she wasn't there so I didn't get my coveted necklace and I don't know if I'll ever find it again.

But, I did discover Hoi-An, who I'd heard of from a contestant from our first contest on RedFlagDeals, who makes the most adorable mini badge buttons, magnets and greeting cards with cheeky pictures and swear words that are sure to get a reaction. We bought one of her skull cigarette lighters for one of our coders, to remind him that smoking is bad.

Sunday we went to The Meeting House. If you ever want to be enlightened at the movies, you must check this out. It's a church that meets at movie theatres and displays the message via video (from Oakville). The lead pastor who delivers the message has long hippy hair and dresses casually, but I've never heard so much common sense in my life. Check it out - even if for nothing else than curiosity.

Tonight we just got back from hanging out with a group of dear friends at Lago where we made fun of each other, laughed and drank dirty martinis.

It's so nice to feel like a person again.

I'll try not to get used to it.. Back to computer land!