What a crazy time! I am gutted for performing artists, small businesses, restaurant owners, and all of those who have lost loved ones this year. I’ve decided to focus for our main gift guides on small business in Canada. These are all brands that ship, so you can support local, but from a safe distance.
With the economy always at the forefront of our minds, we always try to simplify the holidays in some way. We’ve put together a list of gift ideas that may keep you hooked even when the world is booming again.
1. Snowman in a Can. Take a clean paint can and paint the outside of it with a snowman scene (or leave it silver with white dot stickers). Put inside: a toque, mittens, buttons, plastic carrot and a scarf. Voila! You have the finishing touches to your snowman.
Well, the time is here. For weeks, parents, teachers and school boards have been fretting about how to proceed. A back to school pandemic plan is a tough one. While many students head back to a modified classroom in person, there are thousands of kids who will opt for homeschooling, distance or online learning.
Pandemic life has bestowed blessings as well as challenges. Working and schooling from home for over six months hasn’t been the easiest, but our family unit is certainly closer. What we have missed deeply is a change of scenery. When BMW reached out to have the family test out the 2020 BMW X3 30e for a couple of day trips, we jumped at the chance!
I know. We are all renovating and beautifying our spaces right now. Because we will be at home FOREVER it feels like. And ever, and ever. Sorry – ‘Hamilton the Musical’ reference, because isn’t everyone watching it twice a day on Disney Plus? I digress. After my Mom passed away, I inherited a 1780’s farmhouse in Nova Scotia. I got married there, daring Torontonians and Floridians to shell their own lobster dressed in wedding finery whilst looking out at the 365 islands of Mahone Bay. As a charming two-bedroom cottage filled with asbestos, mice and rot, however, it needed some work.
As a woman and a mother there are a few things that top my priority list. One is health for the whole family – being active, having regular checkups and doing a mental health scan every so often. The other big priority I have is to be a well-rounded, confident woman. My kids need to see that. I want to be a role model and inspiration.
Road trip season is upon us and while we understand why you’re considering faking a flat tire to avoid the imminent whining from the back seat— we challenge you to put aside your fears and create lifelong memories along the ribbons of roads that cross North America. CTV Morning Live invited me on set to chat about these trip tips, and—while organizing for the segment—the nostalgia swept over me and I wanted to share some of my personal family road trip tips with you.
Seeing as the entirety of pregnancy lasts about 9 months, the need for maternity clothes lasts at most the same length of time. Probably longer. D’oh. Why should you buy a whole new wardrobe to wear for a maximum of nine months, none of which will fit you after? The answer: You don’t have to! Maternity clothes are, for the most part, expensive and not very flattering. You do need to feel that you look as good as possible when you’re pregnant, though. No matter your sewing ability or willingness to search for inexpensive maternity clothes, you do have lots of options.
I had a therapy appointment yesterday and started to have fun with Zoom backgrounds. Cue: the Friends sofa!! As we all sit down for virtual drinks and dinner parties, some of my tech-savvy friends are going over the top on backgrounds. My humour is beginning to morph but it’s keeping me busy and amused during hard times. Here are the Zoom background ideas you need right now. Just make sure you know how to change them so you’re not like the executive who changed herself into a potato and couldn’t figure out how to switch back to herself while on a work call.
Perfect as stocking stuffers or special gifts for discerning beauty addicts, these finds will make people do a double-take.
