How To Become A Successful Pinup Girl

/0 Comments/in /by
Like millions of others, I am hooked on Pinterest, the hugely popular virtual bulletin board website.

Pinterest

 

ON THE DOWNLOAD | OMG! Just what I needed, another way to waste huge amounts of time on social media. I was already maintaining Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts—now my up-to-the-minute tech friend Giorgio  (vanhit.com) was suggesting I jump on Pinterest, the social media website that allows you to organize and share images you find on the web. That was eight months ago when it was just gaining steam, and he sent me the link for an invitation because you need one to join. “It’s going to blow up,” he told me, and it did—to the moon! Read more

kombucha-Kathy Patalsky- Happy Healthy Life

Need A Quick Energy Boost? Try Kombucha

/3 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by
This newly mainstream fizzy health drink can make you sparkle.

kombucha-Kathy Patalsky- Happy Healthy Life

 

CULT PRODUCT ALERT | Kombucha is a centuries-old fermented-tea beverage consumed for its presumed health benefits. While there’s no hard scientific evidence that kombucha stimulates the immune system, improves digestion and liver function or boosts physical and mental energy in humans, growing legions of kombucha devotees will tell you otherwise, including such celebrities as Gwyneth Paltrow, who pitches GT’s Raw Organic Kombucha as part of her dietary regimen. Read more

Art stands 2- C. Hussey

Easy Make Stands For Your Little Art Works

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by
Make this classic art support for small images from a simple block of wood.

Art stands 2- C. Hussey

 

While not everyone has huge pieces of art gracing the walls of their home, most people do have plenty of little pieces, whether they are favourite photos or original, miniature works of art. But just how do you display these smaller things? You can hang them on the wall in thoughtful groupings to create a tableau, or you can find a way to set them on a table. For years I had been looking for an elegant way to display framed art or photos on a table top. I have never liked plate stands and using an easel seems derivative; finally, I designed an easy-make support of my own. Read more

Woman Shopping - C. Phaisalakani

Over Or Under: What’s Your Shopping Style?

/0 Comments/in , , , /by
Are you an under-buyer or an over-buyer? Here’s what you can to do about it if you are.

Woman Shopping - C. Phaisalakani

 

BUY RIGHT | After squeezing the last bit of paste from the only tube of toothpaste in our house last week, I rushed out and bought a replacement at Shoppers Drug Mart. The next day I was cruising through WalMart, a store I seldom visit, when I noticed my toothpaste brand was regularly priced at $1.25 a tube cheaper than at Shoppers. That’s a considerable savings, so I made a mental note to return in the future and stock up. I didn’t buy any that day because I already had some at home.

Gretchen Rubin, The New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project, coined a term for people like me. She calls us under-buyers, and she knows one when she sees one because she’s an under-buyer too. Read more

The Grove, David Hicks - Ron Rule

How To Make A Spectacular Pot Garden

/0 Comments/in , , /by
How the late, great British designer Sir David Hicks used easy-to-come-by Plain Jane planters to create a spectacular pot garden at his home in England.

The Grove, David Hicks - Ron Rule

 

WHAT THE PROS KNOW | Garden ornaments can be expensive for sure, but they don’t need to be. Witness the clever way the late, great British Interior and garden designer Sir David Hicks employed ordinary available-in-every-garden-centre containers to create a particularly eye-catching pot garden on his own estate, The Grove, in Oxfordshire, England. Read more

My Pizza by Jim Lahey

You Need A Pizza Stone

/3 Comments/in , , , , /by
The secret to cooking perfect pizza really is a pizza stone. Here’s how Jim Lahey uses one.

Williams-Sonoma Emile Henry pizza stone

 

WHAT THE PROS KNOW | No matter how you do pizza at home—from scratch, from half-scratch with premade dough and store-bought sauce or from take-and-bake (doctored Dr. Oetker anyone?)—the taste and consistency of your pie will be infinitely improved if you bake it on an pizza stone.

I was seriously shocked at how much better my frozen pie tasted a few months back when I baked it on an inexpensive no-name ceramic pizza stone ($13 from HomeSense) rather than on my Cuisinart non-stick pizza pan. And I was shocked again this week at how much better the crust performed when I used the stone precisely as described in no-knead bread guru Jim Lahey’s new cookbook My Pizza: The Easy No-knead Way to Make Spectacular Pizza at Home. Read more

Using Products at 1/2 Strength Makes Sense

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by
Using everyday products at 1/2 strength is often more than enough.

 

WASTE NOT | It all started with my first highlights. My stylist swung me around to the mirror for the reveal, and I basked in the glow of my glorious, glittering bangs, confident I would gleam forever in a radiant halo. Then he pulled me back to earth with a thump: “You’re going to have to stop washing your hair so much.” My wise stylist explained that daily washing strips the hair of colour and leaves it dull and dry.

I’d spent big bucks on my hair and was determined to protect my investment, so I cut down on the number of times I washed, and I revisited everything I thought I knew about shampoo. Instead of Shampoo, Rinse, Repeat, it became Shampoo, Rinse for me, all the way. Then one day it occurred to me—not only was my hair looking just as good or better, my shampoo budget had been cut in half. Read more

Books - iStock

Top Universities Offer Courses For Free

/0 Comments/in , , /by
Crazy about learning but not about the costs of higher education? Some of the world’s top universities offer their courses online—for free.

Books - iStock

 

FREE IS GOOD | If the best things in life are free, what’s the deal with university tuition? In B.C. the average tuition fee has increased 96 percent in the past five years.

As it happens, you can get a university education without paying a cent, and what’s more, from top-flight institutions like MIT, Stanford and Cambridge. As long as you’re more interested in learning than in obtaining a formal degree, many universities provide courses and lectures online for free. Read more

DVF Gap for Girls

DVF’s Fashions For Girls Are At The Gap

/0 Comments/in , /by
Diane von Furstenberg’s new collection for wee-to-tween girls are now at two Gap locations in Metro Vancouver.

DVF Gap for Girls

 

NEW NOW NEXT | If the economic downturn in the U.S. has proven anything, it’s that diffusion collections, clothing lines by top fashion designers for less-expensive off-the-rack shops, are good for business. Witness the recent mad rush to purchase Marni’s collection at H&M or the near panic buying that ensued when Missoni for Target launched last September.

With all the advanced hype, Diane von Furstenberg’s cute-as-a-button collection for wee-to-tween girls, which launches North America-wide today—and will be available for purchase at 8 a.m.  (yes, that early—they promise coffee and sweets!) at the Gap in Park Royal and Oakridge Centre—will undoubtedly trigger a similar outbreak of shopping fever. Read more

Tiffany Rings

How & Where To Buy An Engagement Ring

/7 Comments/in , , , /by
Here’s the formula for buying a diamond engagement ring—and—where to get maximum bling for your buck.

Tiffany Rings

 

SHOPPING AROUND | We like to think that it isn’t the size of a diamond engagement ring that matters—but let’s face it, that’s what most people notice first. Still, what really draws you to a diamond and holds your attention is its visual performance—the brilliant, sharp flashes of multicoloured light that give it “life” when it’s moved. This has nothing to do with a diamond’s size and everything to do with its cut and clarity. Read more