I was asked to take over the Deals of the Week column in the Montreal Gazette for four weeks this spring. Here are the first three: Enjoy Romance in New Orleans, Music in Aruba Luxury in India, Spring Skiing in New England Spoleto Festival is a good time to visit Charleston Sail through Greek islands,… [Read more…]
February 24, 2012
As we step out the door of our temporary home in Havana, I am bombarded by a contrasting mix of sights and smells: Diesel fumes and baking bread, bicycle taxis playing loud music bumping along potholed streets past vendors calling out to passersby, their carts loaded with tropical fruits and colourful vegetables. I hold tightly… [Read more…]
February 4, 2012
Tropical vacations can offer a glimmer of hope at the end of a long, cold, dark, snowy tunnel. These online tools can help you find the best deals to put together your own dream getaway. FLIGHTS From Montreal or Toronto, yuldeals.com and yyzdeals. com feature the best fares and coupons for flights and allinclusive vacations.… [Read more…]
January 18, 2012
As I step into the darkness of La Capoterie on St Denis Street in Montreal, I am momentarily blinded as my eyes adjust to the dim light of the windowless store. The scent of artificial fruit hits my nose and I am transported back to Toronto in the nineties when my friends and I used… [Read more…]
October 1, 2011
Walking home in the rain, blind drunk, sending defamatory text messages to an ex and then discovering the absence of one’s keys might be considered tragic. I choose to view it as opportunity. I behave myself for a month. But no partying (or sexual contact), coupled with yoga and meditation, for thirty days, and I… [Read more…]
September 30, 2011
A perfect way to spend a summer’s day in Quebec? Why, picking blueberries with a gang of happy toddlers, of course! Le Rêve Bleu in Saint-Damase, Quebec is the perfect place to pick (and eat) blueberries to your heart’s content. If only April were more willing to share them.
August 15, 2011
When I was visibly pregnant, I was given a little pot of homemade deodorant. After using it up and buying another, I began to wonder about making cosmetics myself. A successful lip-gloss and moisturiser later, I was converted. I asked Tara Lutchman, the maker of the deodorant, what inspired her to mix up her own… [Read more…]
August 15, 2011
As I pulled up my white fishnet stockings, attaching them to a hospital green PVC garter belt, I couldn’t help smiling. Wearing a barely there nurse’s costume in a room full of strangers would be a new experience for me. While I have always tended toward exhibitionism, I also pride myself in modesty and good… [Read more…]
August 14, 2011
One of my favourite places to eat in the UK and Ireland is a chain noodle bar called Wagamama’s. You can substitute the noodles in any dish for rice noodles, and they have recommendations for gluten-free or nut-allergic eaters. Better still, they have these awesome kiddie chopsticks. While revisiting the Wagamama’s in Dublin, my friend… [Read more…]
June 1, 2011
When I set foot on the beaches in Dornoch, Scotland, I understood why one might want to live in a place so far isolated from the world, where much of the time it’s grey and drizzly. While the contrast of the sun against the ochre-coloured sand is dazzling on a sunny day, on a cloudy… [Read more…]
April 21, 2012
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