Celebs In Burberry Trench Coats

The Coat, The Bag, The Shoes, The Blouse ***

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Made to last a lifetime, these high-fashion designer classics never go out of style. That’s why they make worthy investments—at any price.
Burberry’s London Trench Coat

Celebs In Burberry Trench CoatsI keep fallin’ in and out of love—with the trench coat. That’s just what happens when an iconic piece of clothing rolls back into fashion every few years. Last year was huge for the once-and-still-utilitarian raincoat invented for British soldiers by Aquascutum during WWI. I’ve owned inexpensive versions over the years but been understandably reluctant to pony up $1,300 for a Burberry’s London line long, double-breasted cotton trench with epaulettes, gun flap, belt with metallic D-rings and leather buckle, and a Burberry check under the collar—the coat by which all other trench coats are weighed, measured and found wanting. The great thing about the London trench is that really can be worn over everything from a business suit to nothing but stilettos, if you’re Ellen Barkin seducing Al Pacino in the movie Sea of Love. Read more

Grass Fed Cows iStock

Have You Tried Non-Medicated Meat?

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Beef, pork and chicken from “naturally” raised animals are purer than conventionally produced meats—and way less expensive than organic.

Grass Fed Cows iStockMONEY WELL SPENT | We’re fast coming up on barbecue season when everyone eats more beef burgers, lamb chops and chicken parts than usual. It’s no lie that meat is expensive and that organic meats, much as I would prefer to eat them, are even more so. So I was happy to learn about a less-expensive but solid alternative to the hormone-laden conventional meats in most grocery stores and many butcher shops. Read more

Old School Slides Used To Make A Pendant Lamp Shade

Make A Lampshade From 35mm Slides

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How to make a conversation-starting pendant lampshade using 35mm slides.

Old School Slides Used To Make A Pendant Lamp ShadeHave you got boxes of old 35mm slides that need to be scanned and transformed into digital files on your computer— then turfed because you’ll just never, ever look at them on a slide projector screen again? Well, here’s something novel you can do with a stack of them.

My inspiration for this retro-look pendant lampshade came from the infamous credit card dress that a fashion designer wore to the Academy Awards ceremony a number of years ago. The construction method for both items is similar. Read more

Purebread

Lesley Stowe’s 5 Things You Ought To Try

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Lesley Stowe, the mastermind behind everyone’s favourite Raincoast Crisps, picks five, cool things we really ought to try.

 

PurebreadParisian-trained chef and bestselling cookbook author Lesley Stowe is the founder of Lesley Stowe Fine Foods, the specialty food company that manufactures Raincoast Crisps, B.C.’s most recognizable snack and the number-one gourmet cracker for taste-conscious hosts throughout North America. Read more

Sonja Picard Jewellery

Sonja Picard’s Stunning New/Old Jewellery

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Designer Sonja Picard takes your unworn old jewellery and refashions it into stunning new pieces you’ll never take off.

Sonja Picard JewelleryMONEY WELL SPENT | Who among us does not have at least a few pieces of fine-quality old jewellery squirrelled away in the back of a cupboard. Maybe we purchased these items for ourselves way back when; maybe they were given to us by someone special to mark an important occasion; or maybe they were inherited. However we acquired these treasures, and sweet as they are steeped in both history and sentiment, we know in our hearts we’re never going to wear them for reasons as simple as looking unfashionable or as complex as reminding us of a time we’d sooner forget.

Rather than ignore this old jewellery—or sell it for a fraction of its original appraised value—why not combine it all together—gemstones, precious metals, everything—to create new, meaning-filled pieces imbued with the spirit, history and energy of the old ones, contemporary pieces you really will wear. Read more

Weber Kettle

Get Your Grill On: Win A Weber Cookbook

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How one bad day with a gas-fired barbecue turned us into charcoal lovers for good—plus enter to win A Time To Grill, a hot, new BBQ cookbook.

Weber KettleBACK TO BASICS | My searing romance began a few summers ago after an unexpected breakdown. The collapse occurred on that first sunny weekend in May that signals the beginning of barbecue season. My husband, who claims zero finesse when it comes to cooking indoors, turns into K-Paul the instant he slips on an chef’s apron and grill mitts. On this particular Sunday, he was suited up and ready to go when he ran into problems with the barbie.

(Instructions on how to WIN YOUR OWN COPY of the book at the bottom.) Read more

Happy Easter - Cocodot

Taking {Card} Stock

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It’s not too late to establish the tradition of sending out Easter greetings—particularly when they’re free!

Happy Easter - Cocodot

 

FREE IS GOOD | We don’t know a lot of people who send out Easter or Passover cards to everyone they know the way they might do for holidays such as Christmas or Valentine’s day, but when cute easy-to-send-out greetings are available online for free, why wouldn’t you do it. Read more

James Perce Long Sleeve White Tee

No Sweat (Marks)! How To Remove Them

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It’s the bane of white tee shirt lovers everywhere—fabric discolouration due to perspiration. Frugalbits asked an international expert how to remove this pesky stain—and he told us what to do.

James Perce Long Sleeve White Tee

 

DO IT YOURSELF | Many general stain removal charts do not even include underarm perspiration as a category. Google “how to remove perspiration/ deodorant stains from clothing” and you’ll find a confusing number of disparate solutions. If there’s a rule of thumb for dealing with this universal problem, who could rightfully claim to know what it is: Martha Stewart; Linda Cobb, the self-proclaimed Queen of Clean; Heloise? Learned as these ladies are, they are home-keeping generalists, not laundry stain specialists. For the definitive answer, Frugalbits asked a leading light in the stain removal industry. Read more

Dirty Apron Cooking School: Brunch

Recipe For Happiness: Cooking At Dirty Apron

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Put your money where your mouth is—take a hands-on cooking class at the Dirty Apron Cooking School.

Dirty Apron Cooking School: BrunchMONEY WELL SPENT | According to psychological research reported on recently in The New York Times, “spending money for an experience—concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco—produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.” Findings further suggest that the happiness accrued by spending money on leisure activities is amplified when the experience is shared with someone else.

Which brings us to our new favourite experiential “happiness place,” the Dirty Apron Cooking School. Everyone we know who has taken one of their four-hour hands-on cooking classes raves about it. Read more

Provide Interior

Style Maven Anicka Quin Shops & Eats YVR

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Western Living editor and style maven extraordinaire Anicka Quin shares a few of her top spots to eat and shop.

Provide InteriorAs the editor-in-chief of Western Living magazine—western Canada’s largest magazine dedicated to homes, food and wine, and travel—Anicka Quin spends a lot of time travelling the West to sleuth out her favourite design finds. A former Craigslist devotee—fed by an addiction to collecting midcentury modern furniture—she’s now a gatherer of contemporary pieces to pair with her teak. When she’s not travelling, she’s feeding her other great love: cooking fabulous food with friends and documenting it on her blog, Cardomom Pod.

Here are her suggestions for five cheap, free or worth-it things to do, see or buy in Vancouver. Read more