Wherever you first meet Tiffany Pratt – on Instagram, on TV, in the pages of this book or in person – you know a burst of magic has just entered your life. It’s as if you cracked a window and a luminescent gust of glitter blew in on a warm wind then your fairy god-BFF… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Now that a growing chorus of birds are belting out interpretive covers of “Let the sunshine in” and spring is officially making its budding presence known, I figured it’s about time I should do the same. I’ve been laying low here in blogland since my dad passed away on Valentine’s Day. It was an emotional winter for my family. Letting go, saying… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

This is one mother of a week. Not just for the thousands gathering at nearly 2,500 events in over 175 countries this weekend to march, rally, pray, meditate and generally light the way for climate action. Or for the 147 world leaders gathering under one roof in Paris on Monday to talk about tackling the forces of climate change that are… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I didn’t grow up in a canning family. My mom is an awesome home cook but just didn’t get that canning ‘n preserving gene, even though her dad came from a farm family of 18 – yes, 18 –  kids in Ste. Justine, Quebec, one that no doubt survived on lots of farm-canned goods. Her sister,… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

It may no longer be patio season in these here parts but on a warm sunny Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, but I did get off my ass and finally stain and seal the sectional my man and I built back when it was still summer.  Now that it’s complete, I figured I’d share a little ‘don’t worry, summer will be back’ inspiration… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

For World Peace Day (September 21) the UN marked the annual event with calls for all warring parties to put down their weapons. Elsewhere, thousands gathered at 1,300 events around the planet to sit in silence and meditate for the cause. And Burger King, Wendy’s and Denny’s? Well, they combined ingredients from five different competing fast food chains in one giant burger for… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

I’m a big-time klutz. My lifelong lack of hand-eye coordination makes me pretty bad at things like baseball, processing physical commands from Zumba instructors and lifting a fork to my mouth without dropping food on my shirt. That last one leads to a lot of defiled clothes, hence this week’s Ecoholic column on stain removers. This is one area where you really need a product… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

It’s amazing what the sight of a big old tree can do for the soul. I love the city but I get twitchy and cranky if there’s no green space in sight. Humans just weren’t built to live on pavement, so we can, unconsciously, get pretty edgy when we’re not getting enough contact with nature, even if… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

My friends invited me and two dozen others to camp out at their cottage for a big 40th birthday bash. After my initial reaction (cottage party on a lake, woot!) came the fear factor (oh crap, what kind of northern Canadian bloodsuckers will be swarming and can I track down any DEET-free protection on time?). Two health stores I popped into had… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

If you’re up on your celebrity gossip, you’ll know Bradley Cooper recently drove to dinner with his ex in a Prius, and Jennifer Lawrence shops at Whole Foods with colourful, reuseable shopping bags. But when the curtain is pulled back, how green is the industry behind the actors? ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Somewhere on a small island in southern Greece I have a cousin, twice removed, that’s a retired Orthodox priest. That’s about as close to organized religion as I’ve ever gotten. That and the occasional church wedding or funeral. Though after reading the Pope’s encyclical on caring for our common home, I’m tempted to find a pew somewhere and give… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Love the outdoors but hate DEET? Good news!  Health Canada has changed its mind about yanking natural bug sprays from shelves – sort of. The feds said again and again that they were going to pull citronella-based insect repellents from the market since “there was a lack for safety data to support continued registration.” Had they found any major… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Back when I was a kid we ate a lot of canned food. Loved me some Chef Boyardee or Zoodles for lunch, maybe a small tin of syrupy fruit for dessert. Seemed delicious at the time. My mom’s a great cook, but this was before much of my family found religion in a health food store… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Ever wander into a cosmetic aisle crowded with BB, CC and DD creams and wonder WTF does it all mean? I always figured I was the last person on the planet to know what all the abbreviated fuss was about. After a little digging I discovered, surprise, they’re all essentially the same (namely tinted facial moisturizer, often with UV protection). At the… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Unless you daydream of renos or watch way too much HGTV you probably don’t spend much time thinking about your floors. Turns out there’s a lot of dirt lurking underfoot, regardless of whether you’re sweeping daily or not. Check out my tips on avoiding hidden toxins, phoney promises, illegal lumber and more. ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Walk down the bodycare aisle of any drugstore and you’d swear you hit your head and woke up in a fruit stand. No one could really blame you if you accidentally chugged that juicy pomegranate bodywash, acai berry avocado shampoo or strawberry smoothie body buff. It does look delicious. Of course, we know that fruit explosion… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

It’s the end of a long work day. Do you know where your brain is? By now, it’s likely scattered in a dozen pieces and places. A few bits stuck on that conversation you had with your boss/coworker/friend. Another bit returning texts. Another scanning Facebook or Twitter quickly to see if your status update got any likes.… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Biking home on my big blue cruiser yesterday, three words bubbled up to my lips from a primordial place deep within that hadn’t felt the warm sun in what felt like years: we survived winter! I almost belted it out at everyone I biked passed but decided smiling got the message across well enough. As the wind… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Nice shirt. How much did that cost you? Thanks to fast fashion chains like H&M, Old Navy, Forever 21 and Walmart, the average American can now afford to buy 64 items of clothing every single year (yes, I said per year). How the hell is that even possible? On HBO’s Last Week Tonight, comedian John Oliver dives into the issue… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Today is Fashion Revolution Day. It’s also the second anniversary of the fatal factory collapse that killed over 1100 garment workers in Bangladesh. Fashion Revolution Day commemorates the event by requesting we flip our clothes inside out and asking “who made my clothes?” Really, it’s a question we should ask every time we go shopping, but having… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸

Looking for a little post-Earth Day inspiration? One, if you’re in Toronto, line up to go see the documentary How to Change the World, on the early days of Greenpeace, led by the charismatic journalist-turned-activist, the late, great Bob Hunter. It blew me away so I did something I don’t normally do, I wrote a film review. The film… ◂ReadPreviousNext Post▸