About me

Hi! I’m DaniGirl, typing madly in Manotick, Canada. That’s just a wee bit south of Ottawa, the nation’s capital. I’ve been blogging about raising a family in Ottawa since 2005.

I’m mom to three boys: ten-year-old Tristan, eight-year-old Simon, and Lucas the precocious preschooler. After more than a dozen years of marriage and seven years of blogging, my husband Beloved is still mildly perplexed by my obsessive blog habit. Perplexed, but indulgent.

I’m also a freelance photographer. You can see some of my best pictures on my photography site, Mothership Photography. I particularly love taking “storytelling” portraits of families and kids, so please do get in touch if you’re looking for a family photographer with a playful streak and an overdeveloped sense of the delightful.

More than 250 of my best photographs are also available for license on Getty Images, where they’ve been used for websites, greeting cards and calendars, in the Wall Street Journal and Macleans, and even as inspiration for a watercolour painting.

In 2009 – 2010, I took one photo each day for an entire year, called it Project 365 and blogged the whole thing. That was so much fun I did it again in 2011. And I still try to take or post a new picture every day.

I also have a day job: I manage the social media programs for a big Canadian government department. I’ve been working in government communications for more than a decade, and specializing in social media for a good portion of that time.

I love to tell stories, in words and in pictures. I hear I’m a good teacher, and a good public speaker as well. (Actually, I just love a captive audience!) I’m happy to talk to groups and individuals about my ongoing passions, including social media and photography and balancing families and work life. You can contact me at danicanada (at) gmail (dot) com.

Here’s a few of the appearances, accolades and awards that the blog and I have garnered:

I’ve been a featured speaker at Allied Learning Institute’s Social Media in Government conferences in 2012 in Ottawa, 2011 in Vancouver, and twice in 2010. Each time, I was ranked as one of the five best presenters.

In January 2012, CBC radio’s The Sunday Edition aired a 27-minute documentary by Ira Basen called Monetizing Mommyhood, where I was interviewed along with some bloggers I truly admire. The documentary examined some of the issues around social media, sponsorship and authenticity that I’ve often discussed here on the blog through the years.

In September 2011, Canadian Living magazine named Postcards from the Mothership as blog of the month. They said,

Danielle Donders is a photographer, mother of three, and blogger extraordinaire. Read about her funny adventures in motherhood on Postcards from the Mothership, where she posts almost daily from her home in Manotick, Ontario. Moms in the national capital region will find the blog to be a great resource for local family events.

In July 2011, I was a panel speaker at Social Capital, a social media conference in Ottawa. I presented with Lara Wellman and Vivian Cheng on choosing the right social media tool for your business. I also hosted an informal roundtable discussion on Flickr and photography.

Since March 2011, I have been one of eight bloggers from throughout Canada blogging for Fisher-Price Canada through their Play Panel promotion with Mom Central Canada.

In January 2011, Postcards from the Mothership won third place in the Humour category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards. It was also nominated in the Best Family Blog and Best Written Blog categories.

In January 2011, the terrific OttawaStart.com listed this as one of 26 Essential Ottawa Blogs. In 2009, they’d also included me on their list of 30 Essential Ottawa Blogs.

In December 2010, SweetMama.ca listed Postcards from the Mothership as one of Ottawa’s five best family blogs.

In May of 2010, Canadian Family Magazine included Postcards from the Mothership as one of their Top 49 Mommy Blogs. (Back in April of 2009, I was a guest blogger for their Family Jewels blog, and was invited to return as a repeating guest blogger in July of 2010.)

On July 23, 2009, I was one of 16 local bloggers who participated in Blog Out Loud, an Ottawa-based get-together for bloggers, lurkers, and anyone who likes to hear good writing. Update: I participated in this excellent evening of bloggy goodness again in 2010 and 2011. If you get the chance to go to this annual event, it’s the highlight of Ottawa’s social media scene!

On July 22, 2009 I was interviewed by Adrian Harewood on CBC Radio Ottawa’s afternoon show, All in a Day, about Project 365, my one-photo-every-day-for-a-year project. They asked me back again when I completed the project in January 2010!

In February 2009, I was one of ten finalists in Mabel’s Labels “Send a Blogger to BlogHer” contest.

In October 2007, I was the guest speaker at Third Tuesday Ottawa, a gathering of communications and public relations specialists with a passion for social media. I spoke about government and social media, and about marketing to mommy bloggers, among a host of other things!

Smuggler’s Notch resort in Vermont was so satisfied with my blog postsof a trip they sponsored in the summer of 2007 that they commissioned an article – my first print publishing credit! — based on my review for their Explore magazine.

The blog and I were featured in “Moms Who Blog,” an article from
Canadian Family Magazine, June 2007

“In vitro we trust” was an article that featured our convoluted (in)fertility history and the state of reproductive technologies in Canada, from Chatelaine magazine, May 2007. (I blogged about it here.)

“Blogging for Dollar$” was an article that referenced my blog and decision whether or not to take advertising, from the Ottawa Citizen, October 2006

At ARM’s Motherlode Conference in Toronto, an academic conference in October 2006, I co-presented on a panel called “Mama’s Got a Brand New Blog: The Rise of the Weblog and its Impact on Mothering.” (I blogged about it here, and my presentation is here.)

In June of 2006, we took a three-day vacation in Quebec City, and my recap of the trip was cited in the National Geographic Traveler Magazine special feature on Quebec City.

The blog earned a Silver 2nd place finish in the Family Blogs category of the 2006 , 2007 and 2009 Canadian Blog Awards.

In January of 2006, Andrea from a peek inside the fishbowl invited me and two other bloggers to be a part of a feature on the CJOH News at Noon about blogging. That was so much fun that two months later in March of 2006 the host, Leanne Cusack, invited Andrea and Kristina and I back to the CJOH studio to do a call-in panel about blogging for the News at Noon.

Postcards from the Mothership earned a Weblog Award nomination for Best Parenting Blog in both 2005 and in 2007.

I was very proud to be awarded 3rd place in the Best New Blog category (Rick Mercer won it!) and nomination for Best Personal Blog in the 2005 Canadian Blog Awards.

Way, way back, after I had been blogging but a single month, the Ottawa Citizen ran a Saturday article called “New Kid on the Blog,” featuring snippets from 28 mommy and parenting blogs for the 28 days of February – including my first-ever blog entry. (Imagine my delight!) The article has long since disappeared, but I kept a copy for my own personal archives.

(How lucky am I?)