3 Ways To Help The Health Of the Planet
You can make a difference in the health and well being of our planet by changing just one thing.
WASTE NOT | Here are three ways to get started: Read more
This story category covers movies, live performances, sporting events, museums, galleries, toys, games, hobbies, books, courses and general workshops.
Two Ways To Have Books Shipped For Free
Wow! Finally a website where some third party sellers offer free shipping for their used books online—plus, how to get free shipping on new book orders under $25.
FREE IS GOOD | While both Indigo.ca and Amazon.ca offer free shipping on the books you purchase through their companies when you spend a minimum $25, the same is not true for used books they list that are offered by third party sellers. These books always come with an added shipping cost, making what might look like a steal of a deal anything but once these extra charges are tacked on. Read more
The Coolest Way To Tour Vancouver
Many of the West Coast’s most spectacular homes are on the water. To see them, you should be too.
TRAVEL ADVISORY | West Vancouver is hardly Amalfi, but like this picturesque stretch of Mediterranean waterfront in Italy, it does have interesting houses terraced into the rocky coastline, some with cascading, tropical gardens of Babylonian intent. And when the days are sunny and calm like they they will be shortly, we like to rent a (reasonably priced) runabout from Sewell’s Marina in Horseshoe Bay and treat our out-of-town guests to a tour of this gorgeous shoreline in one of Canada’s poshest postal codes. Read more
How to Organize An Easter Egg Hunt
This clever spin on the traditional Easter egg hunt is participant specific.
CREATIVE SOLUTION | At first it felt unnatural to hide plastic eggs instead of real ones because we didn’t grow up hunting for plastic on Easter so having our kids do so felt not only anti-Martha but like some kind of cheesy cop-out. But at some point it stopped being okay to sacrifice three dozen perfectly good hard-boiled eggs to the springtime muck in our backyard just so our kids and their friends could charge around Easter morning and ideally find them—yet never eat them.
So we have changed our tune and completely switched over to plastic, keeping the hand-decorated chicken eggs in the fridge for snacks or sandwiches. The plastic eggs have proved fantastic because we can hunt for them outdoors in all weather conditions and recycle them year after year.
Here’s how our hunt works: Read more
Consider The Orchid
The long-lasting orchid, in myriad colours, is gaining ground on the traditional Easter lily.
SHOPPING AROUND | Since it was first introduced in North America in the early 1900s, the stick-straight Easter lily, with its scraggly leaves and showy flowers that look like trumpets growing sideways out of its stalk, has been a mainstay on Easter morn altars across this continent and a top hostess gift for Easter dinner. But now orchids of all types and sizes challenge Easter lilies for pride of place—on the home front, at least—because they have qualities lilies can’t match. Read more
Watch Art House Films For $2.99 A Month
For as little as $2.99 a month, you can enjoy a steady stream of smart art house films from everywhere in the world.
NEW IN CANADA | Film lovers who think the movie selection on Netflix sucks and the content from on-demand providers like iTunes, Shaw and Blockbuster skews way too whitebread American are going to love that Mubi is now “officially” available in Canada. Read more
Where To Buy V-Day Roses Right Now
Of all the quality roses available for Valentine’s Day, the one’s at Whole Foods really are bargain priced.
PRICE CHECK | Just like at Christmas when they sold fresh, beautifully proportioned eight-to nine-foot-tall Noble fir trees for only $59, Whole Foods markets are offering a killer botanical special for Valentine’s Day: long stem roses at a particularly persuasive price. Read more
We’re All Heart: Find Free Valentines Here
This year, make it personal with downloadable and DIY valentine cards to give—and eat. (FREE, PRINTABLE VALENTINES + RECIPE)
FREE & EASY | Lucky in location, I live in one of several provinces in Canada that celebrates Family Day, a statutory holiday dedicated to promoting family life, on the second Monday in February rather than the third as some other provinces do. Having an extra day off just before Valentine’s Day means my kids and I have more time to make valentine cards to hand out at school and the heart-shaped cookie notes we share with one another. Read more
Make Your Resolutions The Babylonian Way
This New Year, instead of focusing on how to improve yourself going forward, why not think about settling up.
DO THE RIGHT THING | The stats don’t lie. According to resolution research conducted by noted psychology professor Richard Wiseman at the University of Bristol, in England, 78 percent of those he sampled who made New Year’s resolutions failed to achieve their objective.
When the overall success rate is this dismally low, resolution making begins to feel like a whole lot of why-bother—though maybe it wouldn’t if we began the new year the way Babylonians did back in their day. Read more
Send Out Fabulous, Free New Year’s Cards
No, Virginia, it isn’t too late to send out gorgeous, free Christmas cards—really.
HOLIDAY 2012 | ’Tis the night before Christmas and all through the house disquietude prevails. Though your intentions were good, you have yet to snail mail holiday greetings to family and friends and you’re feeling like a slouch. Well, maybe you did fumble this one, but it won’t seem that way to your nearest and dearest when they receive a sophisticated holiday card with a personal message delivered directly to their inbox long before Santa slides by. Read more