a peek inside the fishbowl

We have a winner! Thanks everyone!

Dear Fishies,

It gives me great pleasure to share another giveaway from Fishbowl patron, the Village Quire in Westboro. Have you been there lately? Molly, the owner, brings new merchandise in all of the time. There’s something new every time I drop by (and I’m there a LOT). I have a particular weakness for paper goods, and I am guaranteed to find unique cards, wrapping, AND all kinds of delightful items to give as hostess gifts too.

This giveaway is a quickie because Christmas is already so close, but that is neither here nor there. Even if you’re done with Christmas already, you can put this away for NEXT Christmas knowing that you’re going to save yourself a bunch of time. :)

This giveaway is for a complete Ugly Sweater Collection by Paper Source; it includes sheets of paper, two gift bags and a cool mug AND a bunch of Morsel caramels. (THEY ARE TO DIE FOR.)

I find this hilarious. It totally plays into my love of Christmas sweaters!

This would make a thoughtful gift for the bus driver, for the neighbour who shovels your driveway, or the preschool teacher! Consider this giveaway one thing to strike off your list!
Would you like to win? It’s easy.

• In order for your entry to qualify, please leave a comment below. That’s it!
• This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
• If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• I will draw one name using Random.org at noon EST on December 19, 2014. I’ll contact the winner via email, who will have to pick up their chosen prize at The Village Quire (312 Richmond Rd, Ottawa). I urge you to get there before Christmas so you can check out all of the amazing stuff that’s in the store right now!
• The Village Quire is on Facebook! Liking their page is not a requirement of this giveaway but it’s a great way of keeping up with news, local events, and 411 about other local businesses.

That’s it. Over to you. Good luck!

‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ turns 50 this year. Here are 12 facts about the special: http://t.co/YHLFv6L3VH pic.twitter.com/O6avi2diUt

— Mashable (@mashable) December 7, 2014

• The golden quarter: Some of our greatest cultural and technological achievements took place between 1945 and 1971. Why has progress stalled?, aeon.co
• You can’t detox your body. It’s a myth. So how do you get healthy?, theguardian.com
• How to eat: toast, theguardian.com
• Here’s how top designers tell their clients that they have no taste in design, fastcodesign.com
• 19 Family Photos Gone Wrong … Very Wrong, smosh.com

Watch out! I’m feeling introspective today!

I was in a meeting last week, sort of a consulting thing. There were five of us around the table. We were talking about blogging, and reaching blog readers, when one of the people in the meeting turned to me and asked: “Why do you think people read YOUR blog?”

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