This story category covers information of interest to Canadian readers, particularly those living in Vancouver.

On The Bright Side

Have To Have It: The Joe Fresh “It” Coat

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Cool hunting fashionistas have been waiting for this one: the Joe Fresh neoprene topper.

On The Bright SideCHEAP & CHIC | Say it ain’t so, Joe Mimran? Tell me you’re going to produce more than a limited number of what had to be the coolest coat on the Joe Fresh runway at LG Fashion Week in Toronto last spring. You know the manteau I’m talking about: the oversize neoprene topcoat that comes in colours so intense and on trend that most Canadian fashion journalists who saw it at the show proclaimed it an instant hit—then promptly stuck it on their need-to-get-one list. Read more

MediterraneanSalmon - James Ingram

Chef Michael Smith Shares A Hot Fish Dish

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In Chef Michael Smith’s new cookbook, the recipes are full of memorable flavours and the prep work’s a piece of cake.

MediterraneanSalmon - James IngramEASY & DELISH | Michael Smith had us at easy. The celebrated Canadian chef who, among his many other accomplishments has a James Beard award-winning television series to his credit, has just released a new cookbook with the “E” word in the title—Chef Michael Smith’s Kitchen: 100 of My Favourite Easy Recipes—and that’s music to our ears. Read more

Harbour-Air

Fun Summer Things You Can Only Do Here

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Three once-in-a-lifetime fun summer experiences you really don’t want to miss.

Harbour-AirFly—What could be more B.C. than a floatplane ride? It will give you a bird’s eye view of our unique topography and capture the essence of the place where we live. Harbour Air offers “flightseeing” tours over Vancouver (and Victoria too) that will supercharge your senses. Consider a city look ($99 per person, $289 per family), a fly-to-Victoria-then-ferry-back-to-Vancouver package ($179) or a Mail Run ($185). On a mail run, you ride along with the locals on regularly scheduled service flights from Vancouver Harbour to the villages of the Gulf Islands. This trip is different each time, depending on the day’s pick-up stops.

Harbour Air, 604-274-1277, www.harbour-air.com Read more

Ilia Pure Lip Care

Ilia Pure Lip Care Is Definitely The Bomb!

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Somewhere between a lipstick and a lip balm, this product looks rich and feels richer.

Ilia Pure Lip CareMONEY WELL SPENT | It’s not every day that Daily Candy, the U.S.-based email newsletter that reports on the latest of everything its three million trend-conscious female subscribers could possibly want to buy, anoints a barely launched product available in just 20 boutiques as the “Holy Grail.” But that’s exactly what happened last week when the online behemoth’s L.A. editor reported that Vancouver’s own Ilia Pure Lip Care was the be-all and end-all of lip conditioners. Read more

Hydrotherapy

Spa Like A Finn At Scandinave In Whistler

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The eco-conscious Scandinave Spa at Whistler focuses on traditional treatments instead of gimmicks—and it costs less, too.

HydrotherapyBACK TO BASICS | Say goodbye to spa therapies that only go skin deep. Thermo- therapy and hydrotherapy, practised throughout Europe, are showing up across the country. These therapies use extreme heat and profuse sweating to flush out deeply lodged toxins, relax muscles and improve heart health. Read more

Canadian Flag

Frugalbits Hearts Canada: Here’s Why

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Happy birthday to our home & native land.

Canadian FlagHow do we love Canada? Let us count the ways—or, better yet, let’s have a poet do it for us!!  Check out this sweet video tribute on Frugalbits TV.

Bosa Food Products - C. Phaisalakani

Could Bosa Foods Be Our Italian Costco?

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Could Bosa Foods be the “Italian Costco?” In some ways it certainly is.

Bosa Food Products - C. PhaisalakaniSHOPPING AROUND | In 1960, when my grandmother lived two blocks up from the original Bosa Foods on Victoria Drive, I remember being a curious five-year-old suburban kid standing in the store, totally in awe, wishing I had easy access to so many noodles back in Burnaby.

Bosa has been selling an unrivalled selection of imported Italian specialties since 1957, and in 2006 finally opened a spacious second store off Boundary Road near 1st Avenue. Called the “Italian Costco” by some, the new store has a very un-Costco-like Tuscan bell tower, but the description does fit the generous supply and variety of free samples—cheeses, biscotti, mini cannolis, pizza and breads—offered. Read more

Nu Food Cart Souvlaki

Carmen Ruiz y Laza Shares Her Vancouver

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Media relations maven and woman about town Carmen Ruiz y Laza shares her sources for looking good and living well without breaking the bank.

Nu Food Cart SouvlakiA hyper-connected media relations specialist with clients who have ranged from Cartier and Hermès to the Vancouver Opera and United Way, Carmen Ruiz y Laza knows what’s what and who’s who in Vancouver. As a producer of high-profile events like the Fashionista’s Ball (see our story here), she always needs to be well-turned out. Originally from Spain, Carmen follows the old European tradition of wearing timeless classics. She invests in a few really good quality items in neutral colours and wears them for years. Here are her five cheap, free or worth-it things to do, see or buy in Vancouver. Read more

Vista d'Oro jam

Celebrities Pick Foods They Use In a Pinch

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Vancouver’s top chefs, cooking instructors and food writers weigh in on the tinned, packaged and frozen products they reach for in a pinch.

Vista d'Oro jamSAVE TIME | Much as we might like to make every dish we eat from scratch, we don’t always have the time to do it. Even top food professionals cheat with premade products on occasion, which is why we asked three top foodies—critics, writers, chefs and instructors—to reveal the tinned, packaged or frozen ingredients they reach for  in a pinch. Read more

Cheaper Show Flyer

Cheaper Show’s Killer Art Sale Is On June 25

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How to walk out of Vancouver’s upcoming coolest, most egalitarian and original art sale with a killer (dirt cheap) piece of art.

Cheaper Show FlyerCHEAP IS THE WORD | Art auctions attended by moneyed insiders have their place, and public institutions like the Vancouver Art Gallery rely on donated art and the proceeds of their sale to pay for future programming everyone will enjoy. But thinking about them makes us grateful for the infinitely more populist Cheaper Show, taking place June 25. It’s easily the coolest, most egalitarian and original (not to mention cheapest) art-buying event in Vancouver. Read more