What's New
This update: Saturday, July 31, 2010
Fruga Fun Ottawa turns one and gets a (slightly) new look
It's hard to believe that I've been working on Frugal Fun Ottawa for a year now. Like many moms, I want it all, including hobbies (like maintining this website) that I enjoy. And like many moms, I find that there just aren't enough hours in the day! So I've revamped the format of the Frugal Fun Ottawa homepage in order to make it easier for me to keep the events and activities up to date. Activites that span more than one day are now listed once at the top of the month's listings; when an activity's official website is easy to navigate and the event details are clear and complete, my link will now take you directly to it instead of to an intermediary Frugal Fun Ottawa listing; and two months show up on the homepage instead of one (and the other months are all there too, though hidden), which means that I have one calendar page to manage instead of twelve. I hope to continue improving the site as time allows and I thank you for visiting!
This update: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
CBC Ottawa Morning
I was interviewed on the CBC Ottawa Morning show yesterday. I thought I had this whole interview thing down pat, but this interview was in the studio, and it was live. I was nervous but also excited about the opportunity to promote Frugal Fun Ottawa, and I found it really interesting to get a glimpse of how things work in a radio station. You can hear the interview by visiting the Ottawa Morning website and scrolling down until you see the Frugal Fun Ottawa listing. Thanks to everyone who emailed me after hearing it!
This update: Monday, June 21, 2010
Blogging over at Kids in the Capital
The nice folks at Kids in the Capital have let me join them in blogging about kid-friendly activities happening in Ottawa, and my first blog entry was posted today. It's a new experience for me, and I've enjoyed talking about the RCMP Sunset Ceremonies, one of my favorite free and fun activities of the summer, in a more personal way. I hope to contribute a few more blogs over the summer.
This update: Thursday, April 8, 2010
Back to work, and an interview on CKCU
I'm back at work after being on maternity leave for the past year. I love working on Frugal Fun Ottawa and will continue to post all the free and frugal events I can find, but please be patient if you email me and I'm a bit slow in responding. I love getting emails from fans of the site and will still try to answer all of them.
I was recently interviewed by Donna Sherman, a journalism student from Carleton, about Frugal Fun Ottawa. The interview aired during the Midweek show on Wednesday, March 31st, and is now available online. You can listen to the show by clicking on "Mar. 31 Show" under the "Listen" column. (The interview is about 40 minutes into the show.) I'm starting to get used to being interviewed and was much more comfortabe with the whole idea this time!
This update: Sunday, January 31, 2010
You learn something new every day...
As many of you may already know, I'm a "code-monkey" in training. Meaning that until I started this website with my friend's help, I knew absolutely nothing about how to put a website together and get it on the internet. I've learned a lot since August!
Yesterday I learned a little more about browsers. I ended up viewing this site using Internet Explorer 6, and I was shocked to see that it didn't look the same as when I use Internet Explorer 8, Safari, Google Chrome, or Firefox. (I knew that not all browsers render web pages the same way; I didn't know that IE6 was so completely different!) If you're viewing this website in IE6, you're not getting the best rendering and the pages don't look quite right. Just before I started tinkering with my css files I found this article explaining that due to security issues, even Microsoft is advising that users upgrade to IE8 and stop using IE6 and IE7 immediately. Since the site looks as intended in most other browsers, and IE6 and IE7 should be phased out, I've decided to leave my css as is.
If you're using IE6 and would like to upgrade, you can download a different browser such as IE8, Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari, among others. If you're stuck with IE6 until your workplace upgrades - sorry. I hope they upgrade soon.
This update: Sunday, January 17, 2010
Frugal Fun Ottawa Newsletter and Contest Alerts - Oh, and I'll be on TV!
Many Frugal Fun Ottawa fans have asked for a newsletter, and I am happy to oblige. It will go out monthly starting in February. I'll include lots of free and frugal event and activity information, and much more! If you'd like to subscribe, click here. You'll have the option of subscribing to the newsletter or signing up to get contest alerts, or both.
Laura Lowe of 'A' Morning contacted me and asked me if I'd agree to be interviewed for a special 'A' Morning show all about free things to do in Ottawa. Of course I said yes! I was a bit nervous about the interview, but thanks to Laura all went smoothly. The show will air Friday, January 22nd on 'A' Channel starting at 6:00 a.m..
This update: Monday, December 28, 2009
Everything - sort of!
Well, here it is - the new and hopefully improved site. The major changes are behind-the-scenes, but the overall look of the site is a bit different. I've changed the format of the Ongoing, Seasonal and Year-round Activities pages to make it easier to find specific activities.
And where are the Almost Frugal and For Grown-ups pages? Don't worry, that information is still here. As per your suggestions, the Almost Frugal and For Grown-ups events and activities have been incorporated into the main pages. The "
" symbol represents an event or activity that is Almost Frugal and the "
" symbol represents an event or activity for Grown-ups. I'm striving to put out a site that is informative, user-friendly, and fun to navigate. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction!
This update: Friday, December 18, 2009
I'm currently working on some behind-the-scenes improvements (going from html tables to css to control the look of the site, for those of you who are interested); at the same time I want to streamline the site and make it as user-friendly as possible. In order to get some feedback from visitors to the site (like you!) I've put together a very short survey which you can take by clicking here. Thanks to everyone who has already taken the survey - I really appreciate it. I'm starting to get a really good idea of what you want and as soon as I figure out this css business (remember, I'm still a "code-monkey" in training!) your suggestions will be put into effect. In the meantime, I wish you a great holiday season and a Happy New Year!