26 Feb HOW TO DATE THE RIGHT WAY
If you’re looking to meet someone, you should be putting yourself out there and dating all kinds. It’s fun and can be very rewarding! But there is a fine line between going about it the right way and the wrong way and by no means...
25 Feb Why letting our children fail (sometimes) helps them succeed
This is one of my favourite pictures.
My then 11-year-old daughter is showing off how well she rides without hands on the handlebars. You can't see her face but if you did, it would be the kind of pure exhilaration you only see in children. The absolute pleasure in the skill, the sensation, the slight frisson of danger. She is totally in the moment, in a way adults rarely are.
25 Feb Red Carpet Nails 2014
Golden Globes, Grammy's, Oscars, and SAG awards. My favorite time of year when it comes to fashion and nails.
All of the celebrities are red carpet ready with luxurious, glamorous and fun looks. We are always paying a little extra attention to the inspiring nail trends everyone is wearing. We were pleasantly surprised by what we saw. The overall red carpet nail trend his year is a throwback to the classics; nudes and darks. Alas, the short, clean look was front and centre while few wore the long sculpted nail.
24 Feb Have You Thought About Your Bones?
Women's magazines have millions of articles that tout the importance of calcium in our diet and the need for weight-bearing exercise. Is there more to it… and is it actually possible to prevent fractures in our later years? There are close to 400 000 Quebec women...
22 Feb Everything old is new again: vintage inspired hair
I couldn't be any happier to see this style coming back, for both men and women. This look is modern meets vintage with a bit of a flair. These classic looks are delicate, polished and timeless- be it clothes or hair they seem to tell...
22 Feb THE BENEFITS OF MINERAL MAKEUP
Mineral makeup today is the trend. Most products, not only foundations, but eyeshadows, lipsticks, etc. all claim to be “mineral” and much healthier for us.
21 Feb Strength Training
There are several components to training for overall fitness and today I’m going to have a look at strength training.
[caption id="attachment_5916" align="alignleft" width="299"] Fear not!! You won't bulk up if you start resistance training.[/caption]
For some reason, women tend to flock to the cardio section of the gym while only a handful will venture over to the weights section. Many women are still hesitant to lift weights. And while cardiovascular health is a very important piece of the health puzzle, strength training is not to be ignored. There are just so many benefits to resistant training! I will just touch on a few.
21 Feb Being a Single Mother
As a single mother there are two things that people often ask me: “How do you manage to do everything by yourself” and “Isn’t it hard to be alone all of the time?”
20 Feb Get Rid of Homework Wars, Part 2: The Schedule
After my last post, I’m sure you have all implemented the calendar system with your kids. How is it working? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback! And now for part two: THE SCHEDULE.
19 Feb The Day I Cooked with Celebrity Chefs
I’ve often wondered about food writers. What makes us such authorities on food exactly? Whenever I tackle a new recipe, my respect for chefs grows exponentially. Who could have imagined the precision and care endowed on a simple scallop? When I review restaurants, I know how...
18 Feb Exhaustion and Selflessness: Symptoms of Motherhood
The other day, I was talking to my very pregnant friend. She was telling me that if she hears the words, “Sleep now while you can, cause once you have kids, you’ll never sleep again” uttered by one more parent wanting to offer her advice, she was going to scream. I totally understood where she was coming from. I remember before having my son, getting that same warning time and time again.
18 Feb Don’t Ask Me Why I’m Single
I am all about celebrating holidays, in fact, it's one of my favourite things to do. For crying out loud, I bought Chinese New Year decorations for my classroom! However, I do not like Valentine's Day.
17 Feb Is Wedding Lighting Important?
Aside from your centerpieces, linens, flowers and drapery, there is one element of any wedding that is often forgotten about, but can really help set the mood and ambiance for the night ahead, and that’s LIGHTING! Wedding lighting is often an area where people feel they can tighten the purse strings on, but honestly, it can be one of the best bangs for your buck when it comes to décor, for more reasons than one:
17 Feb Learning is your key to success!
We learn all the time. As kids, we learn the basics in language, math and sciences. As adults, we continue to refine our knowledge base, and add to it - learning all about the world around us, people's behaviours, social norms, and the complexities of everyday...
13 Feb On Dressing Your Age
Recently, I wore denim overalls to my mother-in-law’s 65th birthday party. [caption id="attachment_5817" align="alignleft" width="160"] Mike Holmes rocking his overalls[/caption] Now, when you think of overalls, your brain probably conjures images of farmers, gingham and toddlers. Holmes on Homes, perhaps. The kids from Kris Kross . The...
12 Feb Cookie Monster Cupcakes
One of the most attractive features about cupcakes is their ability to be decorated in any which way imaginable. All you need are a few specialized pieces of equipment, and some specific decorating supplies and of course, some creativity. In this How-To article, I will show you how to decorate a cupcake like Cookie Monster.10 Feb Valentine’s Day Giveaway! Pamper yourself…
Win a $50 git certificate from Bistro Merlot, a fab skincare kit from Flora Diarbakirly from Arbonne Canada and a blissful massage from Spa Curage. a Rafflecopter giveaway ...
10 Feb When things don’t go as planned in pregnancy
This post was supposed to be about the trials and tribulations of creating a baby registry. Then two weeks ago, something unexpected happened. At 32 and-a-half weeks pregnant, I was still working, exercising and feeling great. Then one night, I started bleeding. A lot. I immediately...
07 Feb Tatiana’s top 5 no brainers for buyers
Guess what people?! It's 2014 and contrary to all those “Chicken Little” predictions of last year, the market is still sizzling hot!!
Interest rates are still at an all-time low with banks practically giving away their money and posting rates as low as 2.9% fixed for 5 years. Sales have gone up in most neighbourhoods and the prices of homes have gone up in many Montreal suburbs. Moreover, increase in supply of condos have softened that market and brought down prices, making it more affordable for buyers to get into the condo market.
07 Feb Double use spaces …
So we all have those rooms in our homes, condos, apartments, etc. that need to do double duty. But the problem is, how do we let the room serve one purpose but still serve another without one of them completely taking over ?!
05 Feb The Truth About Speed Bumps
Lately my life seems to be filled with lots of twists, turns, and obstacles.
It’s natural that with our busy and often non-stop routines we are bombarded with a multitude of daily challenges – some of which can be compared to tiny pebbles and others which feels like enormous boulders. As I have mentioned before, as a mother, I spend a great deal of my life behind the wheel of my car. While in the car this week, I found myself having to drive over many speed bumps, and lots of things became very clear to me…
04 Feb Fitness Boxing and Kickboxing
[caption id="attachment_5505" align="alignleft" width="300"] Two long time friends who enjoy fitness boxing regularly.[/caption]
Have you ever thought of trying boxing? Kickboxing? I’m not talking about turning you into Rocky Balboa and putting you in the ring for a fight until TKO.
I’m talking about boxing and kickboxing for fitness. I can already feel your hesitation because I’ve had most people resist or turn down my initial offer to introduce them to fitness boxing or kickboxing, I am, however, very persuasive and manage to convince them to give it a try. In 9 years of training fitness, boxing and kickboxing, I’ve never had a client who didn’t enjoy this type of workout. In fact, they’ve always come back for more.
03 Feb Technology: Friend or Foe?
I am a huge TV watcher…..always have been and probably always will be. My husband designs video games for a living and could easily be described as a “techie”. We have all the latest gadgets and gizmos: PCs, several laptops, iPads, tablets….you name it, we have...
31 Jan Location… Location… Location!!!
The three repeated words that seem as obvious as the word itself, Location.
The official definition based on the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “a position or site occupied or available for occupancy or marked by some distinguishing feature”. Therefore, the position of the property, in relation to the area, that has distinguishing features to buyers is what makes the location so important. When one thinks of Beaconsfield South along the Lakeshore or Westpark area in DDO, we associate it with well to-do people or families because there location has prestige and sells well because they are in high demand for wealthy professionals.
31 Jan MIGRAINES…Where are they coming from?
Migraines are experienced by millions and affect children, teens and adults.
No one is exempt from this painful annoyance, and the questions we must be asking ourselves is not how do we treat a migraine, but what is causing them?
30 Jan DIY: Vintage lamps makeover
For quite some time I was hunting for vintage or secondhand matching lamps for a DIY project to transform them for my twins' rooms. I wanted to make one for a girl's room and one for a boy's room to show how one lamp can look two different ways. I finally came across a pair at an antique shop in Saint-Sauveur. As I was walking back to the car empty handed, I spotted them outside on the porch of the shop.
29 Jan Friends launch Montreal women’s blog site
Canadian Jewish News - By David Lazarus MONTREAL — Lisa Brookman and Elizabeth Wiener have been best friends since their teenage years. But neither West Islander would have imagined that WiseWomenMontreal.com, a free women’s blog site they launched last Labour Day weekend, would result in their being...
29 Jan The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott
I was always fascinated by the story of the Titanic and her tragic fate ever since I was a little girl.
When I heard about this novel, I thought it might give me an idea of how things could have went down, even though it is fictionalized. This book is not only about the Titanic but about the well known British fashion designer, Lady Lucile Duff Gordon, who actually survived the sinking of the ship. The more unfortunate reality of the situation is that she had apparently saved her skin but did not allow others to join her rather empty raft, which carried her husband and several other passengers. Alcott's novel focuses on what happens to Lucy Gordon and her secretary (or in this case, her maid and later seamstress) once they are safely on American soil.
28 Jan Getting Rid of Homework Wars: Step 1
When I meet with students and tell them that they will have to spend time doing “planning work” before doing their actual homework and studying,they often look at me like I’m crazy. I’ve actually become used to that look and usually respond with, “I know you...