Loulou's views

This Mother's Day, keep is simple by shopping local for the most important woman in your life. There are so many wonderful gifts to give mom for Mother's Day. Of course, the most important gift of all is the gift that's free: love, and spending quality time with those closest to you. For me, a truly happy Mother's Day means I'm spending it with my children and my family, doing things we love, together. A home made card from my children is always the most cherished gift I receive every year. However–receiving (and giving) something extra special is a wonderful way to celebrate Mother's day, too. This year, I thought it would be a good idea to shop for gifts from local businesses, because Ottawa is full of great companies selling amazing products every mom will appreciate. Here are my choices for the best gifts to give this Mother's Day: Tallow Boutique : Tallow is an adorable boutique located in Westboro. They sell so many wonderful items including...

I am a collector of fine things, especially designer handbags and sunglasses. Women (and men) can never have too many pairs of gorgeous shades to wear, because sunglasses are the perfect accessory to any outfit. I easily justify the cost of new sunglasses by wearing them every day—no matter the season. I've had the pleasure of partnering with SmartBuyGlasses several times and received some gorgeous shades to review from their site. I'm always so impressed with the quality of the shades I receive, since SmartBuyGlasses sells a variety of designer shades from Gucci to Ray-Ban to Tom Ford and Fendi. (And Burberry, Dior, Persol, Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss, Prada and so many more). SmartBuyGlasses offers the largest selection of sunglasses, eyeglasses, and ski goggles online, with over 180 brands. The only hard part will be deciding which pair of glasses to go with—I can spend hours browsing through the sunglasses and deciding on which pair to go wit...

You may say I have a thing for sunglasses—I have a lot of designer shades that I love wearing, no matter the season. They're a necessary accessory, after all. I'm always looking for a new pair, and even though I have many, I always need more. It's an addiction. A healthy one, though! I was approached by the team at Sicky Eyewear to review one of their incredibly cool and stylish pair of shades, and of course I said yes.  I'm loving them hard and after only a couple of days, I've had quite a few people ask me where they were from and how they could get a pair, too. Creator  John Hildebrand  was a photographer first and created Sicky eyewear when he felt disconnected from the brands of sunglasses he was seeing on store shelves. He set up studio in his Malibu garage and created his brand, using his nickname—Sicky. The rest, as they say, is history. (Well, let's just add here that Sicky creates the highest-quality eyewear on the market, and they're made in...

I have a thing for sunglasses—I can never get enough, and I always love buying new shades. I wear sunglasses every day, and love stocking up on new pairs I fall in love with. I have a few favourite pairs from Chanel and Gucci, and one of my favourite places to get new shades is from SmartBuyGlasses.ca. I love partnering with SmartBuyGlasses.ca because they offer an excellent variety of glasses to suit anyone's style—and they have a great selection of the latest from Ray-Ban, Gucci, Fendi, and Burberry. SmartBuyGlasses.ca just sent me these gorgeous shades from Gucci, and I'm in love! If you're looking for a great gift idea (hmm, Valentine's Day is just around the corner!) for yourself or to give the love of your life, I think a new pair of sunglasses would make the perfect gift. And the prices cannot be beat, seriously. SmartBuyGlasses.ca always delivers what I want, from the style to the brands I love, and the service is excellent, too. No need to shop in...

It's the most important time of the year—and I'm so excited! No, I'm not talking about summer, although that's pretty amazing, too. I'm talking about the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale . If you haven't been to Nordstrom Rideau Centre lately, you should go, like, NOW. Everything else can wait—the dinner you're in the middle of preparing, the house you're furiously cleaning, the backyard summer BBQ you're hosting—just drop everything and go, and everyone will forgive you, I promise. The Anniversary Sale is on until August 3rd , and I don't want you to miss the huge savings on all the fabulous new items you need of fall—boots, jackets, jeans, sweaters, bags... whatever you desire. I was so happy to be invited to Nordstrom Rideau Centre last week for an exclusive behind-the-scenes shopping spree. Thank you, Nordstrom Rideau Centre, (once again!) for the generous gift card and coffee to keep me going all morning long. I had a blast trying ...

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...