Loulou's views

Are you feeling festive yet? I love everything about the holiday season, you guys. From decking the halls to baking cookies (no matter how terrible I am at that!) to attending and hosting Christmas parties, it's truly the most wonderful time of the year. What I love most about this season, though, is shopping for the perfect gift for everyone on my list—especially when shopping is made easy. I just discovered the best way to shop for the holidays: through the Aeroplan eStore!  It's shopping made easy because I can shop online from more than 170 stores, while earning Aeroplan Miles. Earning extra Aeroplan Miles means I'm one step closer to booking my next vacation, so it's kind of like giving myself a present, too, because all I want to do after the holiday season is over is get on a plane and head somewhere warm. If you're not an Aeroplan member, you can join here . Aeroplan has a special 12 Days of Gifting shopping event coming up, too, and this is really...

Now that summer is here, I'm back to a regular workout routine. My mornings start with me enjoying breakfast with my boys, putting on my work out clothes, taking the kids to school, and heading straight to the gym.  It's amazing how much better I feel after a great workout, especially now that the days are warmer. It's so much easier to push myself and motivate myself at the gym when I'm in "summer mode".  If I'm not at at the gym, I'm in the pool, or lounging by the pool, and knowing I'm feeling my best makes putting on a bikini that much easier. Having cute workout clothes helps, too—having tops and pants that fit well and look good so you can have a killer workout is very important, you know! I recently discovered www.mylegwearshop.com  and love the variety of leggings and active wear they offer—and I'm so happy they sent me some active wear, too. Ordering online was simple and fun. The only hard part was deciding which pair of leggings ...

Disclosure: I am a P&G mom. As part of my affiliation with this group, I have been compensated to test the Loblaws Click & Collect service. The opinions and views on this blog are my own.  So we all know that grocery shopping is not always fun. It's time consuming, and no matter how long I spend walking from aisle to aisle, I arrive home to remember the one item I actually truly needed—is still at the grocery store! Sigh. Of course. I remember the days when my boys were much younger, when grocery shopping was even more of a challenge. I had to plan my trips to the grocery store around my baby's nap time, and sometimes, I would be a nervous wreck grocery shopping, scared that my baby would have a meltdown and start crying. What has made my life much easier—and will certainly help out new moms, too— has been using Loblaws Click and Collect . It's online shopping, made easy. And it's actually so much fun, too! While I'm working, I go to shop.loblaws.ca...

Sleep... it's a beautiful thing, even though I don't get more than five hours of sleep a night. My lack of sleep started when I had my first child. Having a baby will do that to you, I suppose, but most people get back to a regular sleep routine within their baby's first year. I don't know why that never happened to me, because there are many benefits to getting more than five hours of shut-eye a night. We all need our beauty sleep, after all, and you know what helps with that? A peaceful bedroom (think neutral colours, dim lighting, comfortable bedding) no electronics right before bed, (hide that iPhone!) and a quality mattress. Here's where Endy Sleep comes in—Endy Sleep makes beautiful, affordable (we're talking under $1000 for a King size mattress) and comfortable high-quality mattresses that get delivered to your front door. I love shopping, you guys, but mattress shopping in a store? Not my cup of tea. With Endy Sleep you can choose your mattress onl...

I love grocery shopping—truly, I do—but sometimes it can be a hassle to get out of the car and into the store to stock up on all the items I need to feed my family, like during a torrential downpour after a fresh blow-dry, or when it's snowing and -35C outside, or when I am with my tired, grumpy children. When my children were much younger, grocery shopping was timed around naps, and even when my children were awake, sometimes trips to the grocery store were headache inducing. (Only sometimes; most of the time my boys were perfectly well-behaved!) I love online shopping and anything that save me time. When Loblaws asked me if I wanted to try out the new Click and Collect grocery service, I quickly said yes and started writing out my grocery list. List in hand, I went online to shop.loblaws.ca and selected the location I would be picking up my groceries from, and then I proceeded to select all the items I need. Milk, check. Eggs, check. Cheese, check. Bagels, check. St...

I have a thing for designer sunglasses—I literally cannot get enough. I stock up, and justify my purchases because I always wear my sunglasses, no matter the season. I just don't wear my sunglasses at night. (Ha!) When I was approached by Smart Buy Glasses to review a pair of designer sunglasses from their website, I instantly said yes. After all, how could I turn down a brand-new pair of Gucci shades? The timing was perfect, too, becuase I can bring my new Gucci shades with me on my trip to Miami in two weeks. I've already started wearing these new classic Gucci shades, though—and I love them so much. I found Smart Buy Glasses to be a really straightforward site to use and shop at—they have an amazing variety of sunglassses and prescription glasses at great prices. Whether you're looking for Gucci, Bolle, Ray-Ban, Fendi, Givenchy, D&G,  Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Valentino, Michael Kors, or Kate Spade—plus dozens more—this site has it all. They provide a huge...

Last week I was on CTV Ottawa Morning Live talking about a fabulous Canadian online shop, Minitrade.ca . Minitrade.ca  is guaranteed to help you save money when shopping for your children. We all know how quickly children outgrow their clothes, so it's not always the best idea to splurge on things like jeans and coats for the kids. Minitrade.ca is the perfect solution if you're looking to de-clutter your children's rooms, too—hop onto Minitrade.ca, fill out your information, and the company will send you a bag. You fill the bag with items your children don't wear anymore, and ship it back to them—for free! Then, you'll get "credits" so you can shop new or gently used clothes for your little ones. How fabulous is that? Here's my segment on CTV for all the details on Minitrade.ca —yes, I get very enthusiastic when I talk about shopping, especially when it's about a company as unique and easy-to-use as Minitrade.ca. Happy Shopping!

After my children, family, and friends, the two things I love the most in this world are traveling and shopping.  Can you believe I only just recently got an AIR MILES card? I am seriously weeping thinking about all the lost opportunities I have missed! Free flights, discounts on my favorite items from my favorite stores, and so much more.  Anyway, I'm here to tell you I am now a proud member of the AIR MILES card carrying club! And I'm now an avid points collector, too. I feel like I have a reason to shop now, and this reason actually rewards me. When I was introduced to airmilesshops.ca , I got a little excited. Okay, a lot excited.  J.Crew, Old Navy, Gap, Amazon.ca, Banana Republic, Apple, Lands' End, Indigo.ca, Victoria's Secret, Club Monaco, Aldo, Nordstrom, The Body Shop, and The LEGO Store are just some of the AIR MILES participating stores, and I couldn't be happier. Those are pretty much all the stores I regularly shop at, in person, or online. ...