It could happen to any one of us, nobody is safe—you decide you’re staying in for the holidays and then #FOMO rears its ugly head and the next thing you know you’re viciously thumbing through Instagram wishing all your so-called friends hadn’t deserted you Kevin McCallister style. I mean, a real friend would force you […]
Lindsay Gloade-Raining Bird
Top 10 books released in 2015
Elizabeth Hay, His Whole Life (McLelland & Stewart) It’s the mid-1990s and Quebec is poised for its second referendum when Jim travels with his parents to his mother’s childhood home on a lake in Ontario. What follows next is the everyday meat of any family saga as Jim comes of age and finds out more […]
Season’s readings
We’ve got a read on who ended up on your list this year, and we’re telling you it doesn’t matter—there’s a book for that. Make your life easy and channel your inner Oprah this holiday season: “You get a book, and you get a book, and everybody gets a book!” It’s one-stop shopping at its […]
A visit from St. Nicholas bae of Christmas past
’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, your nostalgia was stirring, your new fling had no pulse. With Adele turned up high, your makeup on point, you flew from your house with only one goal in sight. “I’ll find my old lover,” you joyously cried, “tell them I called at least a […]
Christina & Michael
Michael Diab and Christina Israel had known each other for a long time before he popped the question on a rooftop in front of the Empire State Building, classically romantic. He had their families meet them in the lounge after she said yes. From there it was a glamourous affair. “I wanted to focus on […]
Brendal & Scott
Five years after Brendal Davis met Scott Townsend at The Lower Deck, they were camping in Pugwash when he surprised her on the trail by getting down on one knee and presenting her with a ring engraved with the landscape around them. When they were planning their wedding they wanted to make it as personal […]
Amanda & Shannon
Two years before they were officially introduced, Amanda Assoun and Shannon Huckle locked eyes at a gas station, unable to look away but too nervous to say anything. That moment burned in their memories until a mutual friend finally introduced them after hearing both sides of the same story. The couple began planning their wedding […]
Orderly conduct
It happens more than you’d like to admit—you’re trying to make a good impression when you’re handed the wine list and the anxiety begins. What do I order? How do I say it? Can I pick something without looking like a total idiot? Thankfully Heather Rankin, sommelier and co-owner of Obladee, A Wine Bar, is […]
Five wines for $15 and under
You don’t have to sacrifice taste for price if you know where to look. Sommelier Erin Horton of Bishop’s Cellar pulls five affordable and tasty wines for every budget. The good news is cheaper wines usually mean easy drinking and no “pencil-shaving aromas.” The bad news is you have every excuse to double fist bottles […]
Living la dolce vita
Italian Weekend 2629 Agricola Street September 11-13, iccans.org If I’ve learned anything from Eat, Pray, Love—other than when you were planning a comeback, Julia Roberts, what were you thinking?—it’s that Italy is more than just a country to stamp in your passport or the breeding ground for the world’s best cuisine. It’s the kind of […]

