Moon Overcoat by Alfred Sung - C. Phaisalakani

3 Star Pieces From The New Moon Fashion Line

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A fashionista identifies 3 stars among Alfred Sung’s new Moon fashion basics.

Moon Overcoat by Alfred Sung - C. PhaisalakaniBACK TO BASICS “What have you got for Canadian labels?” my American cousin asked last weekend when she was up from Portland, Oregon. Hannah works at Nordstrom and has a closet full of very nice clothing including some statement pieces. “I’m thinking inexpensive basics,” she said.  “Gap, Banana: a lot of countries have well-priced basics lines; what’s the Canadian version of these?” Read more

Eve Johnson, Half-Hero Pose

Stretch Tight Thighs With Half-Hero Pose

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Try half-hero pose to give your thighs a good and effective stretch.

Eve Johnson, Half-Hero PoseOne of the most fruitful areas for a new yoga practitioner to explore is something I call television yoga. It’s not a formal practice. You don’t have to put on special clothes, roll out a mat or light a candle. And if you watch TV, talk on the phone or sit and listen to music, you don’t even have to make time for it. You just have to be willing to devote some of your sitting-down time to gentle, intelligent work with your body. Any seated hip opener will do. But if you’d like to stretch your front thighs, it’s hard to beat the half-hero pose. Read more

Omer Arbel - Cory Dawson

Omer Arbel Explores Vancouver His Way

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Internationally renowned designer Omer Arbel burns, illuminates and drives his way around Vancouver.

Omer Arbel - Cory DawsonEvery so often Vancouver produces a superstar— like internationally renowned Vancouver designer Omer Arbel, touted by Wallpaper magazine in 2003 as one of the 15 designers of the future. His bubblelike cast glass pendant Bocci lights, just five years old, are already iconic, as much a design staple as a Noguchi coffee table or Eames chair. He has designed everything from furniture, interiors and electrical sockets (see below) to the 2010 Winter Olympic medals in collaboration with aboriginal artist Corrine Hunt. His numerous awards include the Canada Council’s Ron Thom Early Design Achievement Award, International Design Award and the Design Prize of the German Republic.

Omer Arbel’s 5 free, cheap or worth it things to see, do or buy in Vancouver Read more
Used University Textbooks - C. Phaisalakani

17 Ways To Save On Textbooks

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Hey, post-secondary students, Belinda Bruce has found 17 ways to save on schoolbooks this fall.

Used University Textbooks - C. PhaisalakaniCHEAPER IS BETTER | Buying textbooks at the campus bookstore is so old school. Post- secondary education is costly enough without forking over a premium for course materials. With the average full-time student spending between $900 and $1,200 a year on textbooks, it’s easy to understand why alternatives to the campus bookstore are cropping up everywhere. Read more

Specialty Leggings - iStock

Skinny Legs And All

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Fashionista Laurel Zapke picks her top 10 leggings to take you through fall—both plain and sexy kinds.

Specialty Leggings - iStockBUY RIGHT | Blame it on Betsey. American fashion designer Betsey Johnson, known for her princess-meets-punk designs, has long loved leggings. Betsey knew what she was doing in the 1980s when she paired a cropped black cotton legging with a sheer black full chiffon knee-length skirt attached to a black cotton top with a sweetheart neckline and capped sleeves. I borrowed that dress from a friend in 1988 and wore it with all the glory and pride of a blushing bride. I still wear Betsey today—only now the Betsey pieces are not borrowed, they are mine. And anytime I want a little edge in my look, I just “Betsey” things up with a legging. Read more

Large Black Chalkboard - C. Phaisalakani

With Chalkboards, Bigger Is Almost Always Better

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When it comes to having a blackboard in your life, it’s best to go big or go home.

Large Black Chalkboard - C. Phaisalakani

 

MONEY WELL SPENT | One of the best things we did the first time we renovated our house, when my now teenage son was small, was to put a gigantic black chalkboard on one wall in our dining area. We had to order it from a company in Ontario that supplies visual presentation products to schools because we couldn’t find anything locally that was the four-by-eight-foot size we wanted. The board was surprisingly inexpensive, but crating and shipping it nearly doubled the cost. And the cost doubled again when we ditched the anodized aluminum trim kit that can be purchased with the unit in favour of a custom-fitted natural wood picture frame we thought would look better with our hardwood floors and furniture. In the end, I think we paid around $800 for the whole thing, which isn’t dirt cheap but certainly less expensive than a framed artwork of comparable size. Read more

One Of These Pickles Is Not Like The Others

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Which of these baby dill brands has chef Glenys Morgan in a pickle: Safeway, Western Family or Bicks?

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Don Genova Shops & Noshes In Vancouver

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Noted B.C. food journalist Don Genova shops, slurps and noshs his way around Vancouver.

Don Genova At Legendary Noodle - C. PhaisalakaniDon Genova is a food journalist and educator who splits his time between Vancouver and an acreage in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. His work is heard regularly on CBC Radio and seen in Aqua magazine with a column called Pacific Palate. Don teaches food and travel writing at UBC with in-person and online courses and offers sustainable eating courses at the University of Victoria. You may also catch him teaching cooking classes at Thrifty Foods or the French Mint cooking school in Victoria. You can follow Don’s adventures in eating on his blog, blog.dongenova.com, and get information on his classes on his website, www.dongenova.com. He also tweets @dongenova.

Don Genova’s 5 free, cheap or worth it things to see, do or buy in Vancouver Read more
Reverse The Curve - C. Phaisalakani

Reverse Your Curve With This Easy Pose

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We’re becoming a nation of stoopers; “reverse the curve” with this challenge.

Reverse The Curve - C. Phaisalakani

 

FIVE-MINUTE-YOGA | Most of what we do, including typing, cooking, driving, reading and gardening, encourages us to lift our shoulder blades, jut our heads forward and round our backs. Don’t get stuck there. Instead, reverse the curve with a chest-opening pose. You’ll make more space for your lungs, bring your shoulders back into place, relieve upper back tension and stretch your front chest muscles. Even five minutes a day makes a difference—as long as it’s every day. Read more

Why Buy Perrier? Fizzy Water Is Easy To Make

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If tapwater leaves you flat, home carbonation devices will add fizz to your drink and loonies to your pocket.

Bottled Tapwater - C. PhaisalakaniWASTE NOT | Last summer I had dinner at the home of a stylish and gracious friend whose table setting included a tall glass pitcher filled with tapwater, ice cubes and slices of lime. It was refreshing in every way: simple, elegant and thirst-quenching. For a more casual presentation, another friend recycles the rubber-stoppered bottles from French lemonade, filling them with tapwater that she keeps chilled in the fridge. You can buy similar stoppered bottles without the lemonade (Bella Vita in Park Royal has attractive ones in green or blue from Maxwell & Williams for $5.95).

The advantages of tapwater are well known—better regulated and better for you than bottled water, better for the environment, really really local—yet having imported bottled water on the table has become almost as essential as knowing what wine to serve. Perhaps it’s the bubbles. I’m not a fan of fizz myself, but many of those who are have been turning to home carbonation devices. Read more