My New Year’s Resolutions for 2016

January 6, 2016January 10, 2016 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 5 Comments

Happy New Year!!

The beginning of a new year is when many people set New Year’s resolutions.

Admittedly, I don’t usually set resolutions on New Year’s Day because I make resolutions all year long. Maybe that’s a good thing, maybe not. Either way, January is as good a time as any to think about positive changes.

Here are 5 New Year’s resolutions that will make a difference for me:

Get More Sleep
I used to sleep from 10pm to 6am every night. That’s a solid 8 hours. I felt great because I could get more done in the early hours of the day when it was quiet at home and on the roads. Since my second child was born, I haven’t been very successful and am lucky to get 6 hours.

I’m sure you have heard about many studies and statistics on getting more sleep. I like Dr. Oz’s tips and website. I know that getting more sleep will make me a more patient mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. My biggest challenge will come with getting to bed as early as possible because I seem to get up around 5:30 no matter how hard I try to sleep in later than that. If I had to choose only one New Year’s resolution, it would be to sleep. Continue reading →

How To Host A Fun & Easy Christmas Coffee Morning

December 23, 2015January 2, 2018 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 2 Comments

Christmas Coffee Morning - Self-Serve Tea and Coffee — Christmas Coffee Morning – Self-Serve Tea and Coffee

The days leading up to Christmas are some of the busiest of the year. They are also the most festive days on which to entertain.

Last week, I hosted a Christmas coffee morning for some of the moms at my kids’ school. It’s something I have done in the past and all the moms enjoy taking time out to relax and catch up before the holiday break.

Christmas Coffee Morning - All Kinds of Goodies — Christmas Coffee Morning – All Kinds of Goodies

For me, it is a chance to invite friends over while my house is somewhat clean and orderly! Plus, it’s decorated for Christmas, which makes entertaining that much easier and more fun. It’s also easy in that the season sets the theme for everything from Christmas doilies, napkins and serving dishes to Christmas-themed centerpieces.

Christmas Coffee Morning – Fruit Bowl

Christmas Coffee Morning – Croissants

Christmas Coffee Morning – Yogurt and Granola

Here’s what was on the menu: Continue reading →

VIP Cinemas: The Ultimate Experience at the Movies!

December 11, 2015January 29, 2020 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 4 Comments

On Sunday, my husband and I were lucky enough to get tickets to a VIP Cinema screening of the latest Rocky installment, Creed.

A few days earlier, I had received an email saying that 50 Scene Members would get free tickets, plus $60 spending money, for them and a guest to a VIP Cineplex Cinema Sneak Peek. The Cineplex Yonge-Eglinton & VIP (formerly SilverCity) in Toronto has just added 3 new VIP Cinemas, making it the 9th location in Ontario to receive VIP Cinemas. I was one of the lucky 50!

The highlights of the VIP Cinema experience are:

Larger, reclining seats that can be reserved
Menu service at your seat
Licensed lounge and theater
Dedicated box office

VIP Cinemas at Yonge/Eglinton Toronto

VIP Cinemas

Reading between the lines, you understand that patrons must be of legal drinking age, so nobody under 19 can attend these VIP Cinemas in Ontario. The VIP Cinemas have a separate entrance and are not near the regular theater auditoriums. In fact, when we went on Sunday night, we did not know where the VIP Cinemas were and had to be directed to a brand new wing of the theater.

Continue reading →

DIY Advent Calendar: Fun and Easy

November 30, 2015December 23, 2015 ~ sweetlifestyle

This post is meant to inspire you with a fun and easy DIY Advent calendar!

It’s that time of year again: the build-up to the Christmas season. My family gets very excited to celebrate the holidays and we like to get things started as soon as possible!

One easy way is to use an Advent calendar. Advent calendars have their origin in the mid-19th century in Germany with the Lutherans who used to count down the days to Christmas with chalk marks or by lighting calendars. Gerhard Lang, a German child, was lucky enough to have his mother stick candy on a piece of cardboard for him to remove each day. Bible versus are featured on many versions as Advent calendars are meant to herald the ‘advent’ or ‘coming’ of Christmas.

Many articles I read credit President Eisenhower with popularizing Advent calendars in the US. The commercialization of Advent calendars has taken away the true origin of the calendars and each year there are so many choices and creative varieties. Reminding ourselves about the meaning of Advent calendars is important.

An article in Chatelaine Magazine did a great job showing all the Advent calendars you can buy, including ones from David’s Tea, The Body Shop and Starbucks as well as ones including make-up, beer (believe it), and pet treats!! These Advent calendars range in price from $12 to $250. Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

October 10, 2015November 3, 2015 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 6 Comments

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend! It’s the first long weekend after school has started and many students (and parents) look forward to this break. But, what is Canadian Thanksgiving, how does it differ from American Thanksgiving, and why is it in October??

I grew up in an American compound overseas and then went to school in the US for seven years, so I have celebrated American Thanksgiving at least seven times. It is truly a big celebration! The memories are very real and I know that the fourth Thursday in November means a few things for our American neighbors: the start of the holiday season, the busiest travel weekend of the year, family and lots of food, being grateful, parades, and the Dallas Cowboys game on TV. In Canada, our Thanksgiving is a little bit different (although we do have Oktoberfest parades, fall festivals, and Canadian Football League games).

For starters, Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October (which happens to coincide with Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the US), not in November. It is not necessarily a busy travel weekend and we don’t all celebrate on the Monday – we can celebrate any day of the weekend, hence the ‘light’ traffic. And, believe it or not, only federally regulated companies are off for this holiday in the Atlantic Provinces, where Thanksgiving is an optional holiday. Continue reading →

Brooklyn: A TIFF Movie Review

September 16, 2015January 29, 2020 ~ sweetlifestyle

Living in Toronto, the fourth most populous city in North America, means that a lot of the world comes to us! This is the case with TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival). Now in its 40th year, TIFF is recognized as one of the world’s most important film festivals along with the Venice, Cannes, Sundance, and Berlin film festivals.

This week I was lucky enough to get rush tickets to see Brooklyn, based on Colm Toibin’s 2009 best-selling novel, with screenplay by Nick Hornby (An Education, Wild) and direction by John Crowley (Intermission). John Crowley was at the screening for a couple of minutes to introduce the movie, already screened at Sundance, as one about ‘family, memory, and making a new life’.

Brooklyn is my favorite movie this year. It is beautifully filmed and emotionally portrayed, with innocently funny moments. Brooklyn closely mirrors the book as the story of the immigrant experience; mid-20th century life; and love, family, and choices.

Without giving away too much, Brooklyn follows its heroine Eilis (pronounced ay-lish and played by Saoirse Ronan) from small-town Ireland, and the home she shares with her mother and sister, to Brooklyn where Father Flood (Jim Broadbent) has arranged work and an Irish boarding house for her. Eilis is lucky to have Father Flood taking care of her, guiding and comforting her. When tragedy strikes and Eilis goes back to Ireland, she must make a decision about where home is. Continue reading →

A Summer Staycation in Toronto

September 3, 2015September 9, 2015 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 4 Comments

CN Tower, Harbour Front Centre, Rogers Centre

In August 2015, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Toronto the 4th most liveable city in the world – a position Toronto has held for several years now.

The EIU ranking is based on 30 factors in five areas and includes stability, healthcare, environment, and education. Living in Toronto, we know how blessed we are. So, when my husband took one week off of work, we knew that a staycation would be perfect!

A staycation is a vacation that is spent sleeping at one’s home while enjoying activities that are within driving distance. Having spent the better part of two weeks in June traveling to four different cities, we were grateful to sleep in our own beds by night while going out by day.

We had three simple goals: sleep in, eat out, and do some tourist-y things!

Although this post is Toronto-based, I am sure that you can find similar activities to fill a day, a weekend or a week long staycation in your home town. Do a search on local festivals and happenings (blogto.com is my favorite for Toronto).

Continue reading →

My Kids Are At Camp So I Am… Coloring!

July 26, 2015August 2, 2015 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 6 Comments

Yes, the kids are away at camp and I am coloring!

Apparently, so is everyone else.

When the kids were little, we used to color all the time. We would color the same page together or each take a side of the book and dedicate it to the other. It was very sweet. Those times were special: we bonded, relaxed and chatted. It has been a while since we have colored together but every time I see coloring books in the basement, I secretly want to color.

Well, now it is officially okay for me to color! In the past few months, many articles have been written about the success of adult coloring books, which are more intricate and detailed than children’s coloring books. Not only do these books take us back to our childhood, they are also easy to carry and keep around.

Coloring is part of the health and wellness trend, relieving stress and getting our mind off of everyday worries. Everybody’s doing it. Someone I spoke to recently told me that ‘coloring right now would make me so happy’. Another friend said her parents have the dining room covered with puzzles on one end and coloring books on the other. Continue reading →

30 Hours in New York City

July 6, 2015August 2, 2015 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 2 Comments

Last weekend we had a wedding in New Jersey so we combined it with a trip to New York City – why not??

New York is one of those cities that you have to visit at least once. So much happens here and you have to experience the pace of the city to understand why. Before I tell you about our trip, here are some fun facts about New York:

About 50 million people visit NYC every year with roughly 80% coming from the US. The UK and Canada are the next largest group of visitors at about a million each. (nycgo.com)
New York is referred to as the Big Apple. This name originated in the 1920s when New York’s race tracks paid the highest prizes: something that was special or paid well was referred to as a big apple. (todayifoundout.com)
More hit movies have been filmed in NYC than any other city for every decade except the 1920s when Paris and London had more hits. (New York and Los Angeles: The Uncertain Future by David Halle and Andrew A. Beveridge)

One thing you should know is that we like to do a lot in a little bit of time. So there are a lot of stops listed here. I hope you will find something that is new and something you will consider the next time you are in NYC. Let me know what you think! Continue reading →

Last Night I Met Judy Blume!

June 30, 2015August 2, 2015 ~ sweetlifestyle ~ 6 Comments

Last night the Toronto Reference Library hosted Judy Blume as she tours to promote her latest adult book In the Unlikely Event. Yes, Judy Blume was in town and I met her !

Tickets sold out online in minutes a month ago. About a thousand people came, some in the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon and some in the main library watching on screen.

Attendees were as diverse as Toronto is multicultural, with the exception of a primarily female audience of all adult ages. We were all just thrilled to be in the same room with Judy Blume. We whistled, clapped, and stood when she was introduced. Continue reading →

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