The Mother Of All Heritage House Tours

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Old houses cost less than new ones even if you renovate—and the heritage house tour can show you how.

MONEY WELL SPENT | What’s the first thing that comes to mind when making an old house more energy efficient? Changing all the windows maybe? Well, relax. A CMHC case study on renovating for energy savings reveals that replacing the windows and doors of a pre-Second World War house reduces just 11 percent of energy loss compared to 34 percent for insulating and draftproofing of walls, ceiling and foundation; 34 percent for upgrading the furnace; and 18 percent for adding exterior insulation beneath the siding.

This is just one of the helpful tips to be gleaned from the 30-page guidebook for this year’s Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s heritage self-guided house tour on Sunday, June 6. Another is that retrofitting an old structure can be less expensive than demolishing and rebuilding—like the $89 million to be saved by the UBC Renews rehabilitation of 10 buildings on the university’s campus. Read more

So Hot Out Of The Box: DVDs Cheap As Chips

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DVD collections from this online company are about as cheap as they come.

Stacked boxes of DVDsCHEAP + GOOD | Shopping online is such big business that it feels pretty safe. Still it’s a leap of faith to buy from companies you’ve never heard of that do not have a gargantuan brick and mortar setup like Staples or a solid online presence like Shopbop.com.

My friend Debbi admits to having felt slight misgivings when she ordered all five seasons (60 episodes) of The Wire from DVD Collects, an online company she had never heard of with DVD prices that were cheap as chips. Read more

One Of These Tunas Is Not Like The Others

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Which of these tuna brands sends chef Glenys Morgan fishin’ in the back of the cupboard: Rio Mare, Western Family Solid Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil, Cloverleaf Flaked Light Tuna in Vegetable Broth and Oil?

Three tins of tuna Read more

Boxes Casey Phaisalakani

Blue And Orange And Magenta, Oh My!

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For the Canadian material girl, a gift box from Tiffany, Hermès or Holt Renfrew will make her say aah(s).

Boxes Casey Phaisalakani

MONEY WELL SPENT | If you are hunting for a graduation gift for someone who loves to dress up (and sparkle), and you are prepared to spend some money but don’t want to go too, too crazy, consider picking up a little something from Tiffany & Co., Hermès or Holt Renfrew.

Each of these luxury goods retailers, who package their merchandise in gift boxes as recognizable as their names, sells small, and not exorbitantly expensive, jewellery items and accessories that are already ordained classics. These are pieces that get passed along to daughters and beyond, items destined to pop up in fashion magazines 50 years from now (online, of course, because paper mags will have vanished) on their hot vintage collectibles lists—things with the potential to hold or accrue value. Read more

What’s The Deal With Spices Prices?

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Exploring the (better-priced) outer reaches of the spice aisles.

SpicesCHEAP + GOOD | Shopping for spices recently at the Superstore at Main and Marine Drive in Vancouver, I felt like the victim of a bait and switch con game. Little identical glass jars of McCormick Gourmet spices were being sold for identical prices even though the weight of their contents was vastly different—a 7-gram jar of bay leaves cost the same as a 43-gram jar of ground cumin—$6.69. A few feet away, Club House was selling a 13-gram bottle of bay leaves for $3.49.

On closer inspection, I was surprised to learn that McCormick Gourmet and Club House are owned by McCormick Canada, which means if you buy their “gourmet” product, you are paying almost twice as much buck for half as much bay, or, put another way, you are paying a whopping $4.87 for that little glass jar. Read more

The Cheapest Chicest Hotels in Palm Springs

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If you can take some heat, this California city is a great place to get a room right now.

 

 

Colony Palms Hotel, Palm Springs

STAY HERE There are two schools of thought on travel accom-modation. There is the group who say: a bed is a bed and all I need is somewhere clean to lay my head because I don’t plan to spend time in my room anyway; and there is the other group who feel that where they stay should be memorable in the way it looks or contributes to the place’s overall experience.

I understand both these points of view and have fallen into one or the other of these groups depending on the occasion. But I do love design—and the idea of regionality where hotels are concerned—so I’m always on the lookout for accommodation with what I call original spin, hotels that “have a look” and feel local. Oh yes, and I want them to give great service AND be reasonably priced. Read more

One Of These Peanut Butters Is Not Like The Others

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Which of these organic peanut butter brands made chef Glenys Morgan feel like a nut: MaraNatha Natural No-Stir, O Organics, Kirkland Organic, Nuts To You Organic?

Organic Peanut Butters Read more

For Elegant Invites, Paperless Post It

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Get your next party started with stylish online invitations no one can refuse.

Paperless post

 

SAVE ON CHIC | There is a beautiful way to scrap the paper and cost of traditional invitations but keep the timeless elegance of stationery. With Paperless Post, an online stationery service charging just $5 for 60 invitations plus a way to track RSVPs, you’ll save time, money, the planet and your sanity.

Paperless Post is the brainchild of New York siblings and business partners Alexa and James Hirschfeld, who founded the custom online stationery service in 2008, packaging aesthetics and efficiency into one neat virtual envelope. Read more

Sticker Shock—In A Good Way

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The turn on: We get a kick (literally) out of drinking Emergen-C’s energy boosting powder-blend packets of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals that are made to be stirred into common tap water. More convenient than popping vitamin pills, this fizzy drink product is a great way to ward off a cold. It is also the perfect pick-me-up water-bottle drink for during or after a workout. Once drunk, twice addicted is all we can say.

What’s the deal: $7.99 for a box of a 30 packets.

Why we’re excited: More like stunned, really. But hey, ours is not to question why this product costs $20.99 (this is the sale price; it is regularly $22.99) at Whole Foods in Vancouver and only $7.99 at Trader Joes in Bellingham; ours is but to buy in bulk on our next trip south.

How long will the pleasure last: Always. This is the regular price a Trader Joes.

Where’s The F Spot: In Bellingham, take exit 255 to Trader Joes, 2410 James Street, (360) 734-5166; open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

— Submitted by M. Phelps