Time to Shop the Hood!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - there is nothing like the service, thoughtfulness and product curation you'll find in a local boutique or shop.

Owners of local businesses choose their inventory for YOU, and it's based on spending time noticing what you buy, what you like, and what you ask for. They remember things about you that you didn't even realize they knew. They have staff that have been there for years, even decades, and know their stuff inside and out. They sponsor local teams and charity events, and give back to our communities in ways that chain stores never could.

Today is the day to show them some extra love by Shopping the Neighbourhood in downtown Burlington (or any downtown you happen to be living near - Oakville, Toronto, wherever!). They'll be offering special deals and discounts to make it even more worth your while than usual, and it's free parking in Downtown Btown all weekend and all of December too!

Great deals include 20% off store-wide off at Lingerie D'Amour and 20% off sweaters at The Oyster! Check out participating businesses and get all the details here. You can also find some more deets on twitter searching by the #shopthehoodburl - Hope to see you downtown later today!

Black Friday Deals in Canada start NOW!

Just a few highlights for y'all, since I can't possibly tell you every single Black Friday deal there is... Well, I could, but you'd be scrolling for a long time.

Here are some of the best, in my humble opinion.

A few of Mastermind Toys Canada Black Friday Deals

Mastermind Toys: lots of truly good deals although unfortunately they're in-store only, so be my guest if you have time on Friday. I'll be at work. The stiga snow racer (essentially the GT Snowracer we all know and love from the 80's) is $20 off making it a GREAT deal at $99. If you're in Btown, you'll find this shop on Brant Street just south of the highway but there are locations all across Ontario.

Amazon.ca: deals are ALREADY happening. Like, right now! Yes, a day early. This is no surprise. If you're looking for things like electronics (lots of 'em), Minecraft vinyl figures, a few toys and lots more.

Toys R Us: Online the sale starts at 12:01am on the 28th, so if you're up late, go crazy. You'll find half price deals on things like Skylanders, Lego, PS4s and XBoxes, but you'll ALREADY find early-bird deals on NOW so go go go!

Target (Canada): Black Friday starts on the 28th in-stores only (since they don't have a .ca website) so go if you're interested in deals on electronics, movies (a few hot new DVDs are only $10) and more.  Apple products like iPhones and iPads come with $50-$120 gift cards so that is worth it if you don't mind standing in a long line. I went last year - the line in the electronics department was long but at least well-mannered.

Walmart.ca: TVs, tool sets, toys, home appliances, furniture, cameras and more. There are a lot of Black Friday deals there both in-store and online.  They ship for FREE so why leave the comfort of your own home?

Hope you get some holiday shopping done tonight or tomorrow and save some $$$ while you're at it!

Meaningful Christmas Gift Ideas

Sometimes we might feel like the holiday season is getting a little too "commercial". Despite how much we enjoy the company of family & friends, and the twinkling lights and decorations, we can all get a little too caught up in spending sometimes. 

Last year my family decided that instead of gifts for the adults, we would donate to a charity that held meaning for us. We decided on the The Canadian Paramedic Benevolent Society, as it is quite dear to our hearts following the passing of my stepmother's beloved nephew Chris Snowball, who was only 38 (with 3 kids), while he was working as a primary card flight paramedic with Ornge Air Ambulance. Their helicopter crashed while out on a rescue, as you may remember as it was in the news quite often.

In past years, to say thank you to my incredible midwives after the safe delivery of my children, I donated to Plan Canada to help with safe newborn deliveries in developing countries. It seemed fitting given how happy I was to have healthy babies of my own.

World Vision is another great place to donate to people in need across the world. You can help stock a medical clinic, fund clean water access, or donate fruit trees to help kids' health thrive. Wouldn't it be a great teacher's gift to donate school supplies or fund sports & arts programs for children in need?

So if you've got enough "stuff" (don't we all?), consider a favourite charity or cause to donate your time and/or money to this Christmas!

Burlington Santa Clause Parade Route 2014

Sunday December 7th starting at 2pm, the Burlington Christmas Parade - or Santa Clause Parade as I'm going to continue to call it - will take place for the 49th year in a row! You'll see the amazing Burlington Teen Tour Band, the Junior Redcoats, and 7 other bands, along with floats, kids characters, and definitely Santa!!!

The parade route starts, as always, at the Burlington Mall at Guelph Line & Prospect, then heads south on Guelph Line to New Street, then heads west to Brant Street where it ends at Victoria Avenue near Central High School.

Road closures are in effect from 11am to as late as 4:30pm max.

Remember parking is STILL FREE in Downtown Burlington on weekends so you can enjoy the parade and do your holiday shopping too.

Grab some hot chocolate and dress warmly and come enjoy a great parade for the whole family!

For more info, head to the City of Burlington website.

Happy Holidays!

Massive Bay Shoe Sale Today!

Nine West, Franco Sarto, Ugg, and more!

Go now before the sizes are gone - excellent selection online my friends!


https://m.thebay.com/thebay/html/#!lang/en/productslist/subcategory/166747

Drake General Store at Btown Bay

Just wanted to let you know of the cute little pop-up at The Bay in Burlington Mall for The Drake General Store. Not as huge as the full-on boutique at the Queen St. Bay in Toronto, but for our little suburban Bay, it's a start :)  Stocking stuffers or teachers gifts anyone?

Christmas Tree Decorating Trends 2014

Gosh, it's been a while since I've blogged. Not that I'm making excuses, but I blame my new full-time job and the task of co-authoring a book, along with my two young kids and desire to stay in touch with my amazing group of friends - oh, and sleep - all of which left literally ZERO minutes to start typing here much these past six months.

Well, to heck with all that, I'm back! I still have kids and a job and the need for rest and personal hygiene, but the book is finally off to the editor/publisher, so that still definitely frees up at least a few minutes per day now to articulate some thoughts for all of you. Thanks for stopping by! I missed you.

What has pulled me back in? Christmas, of course. I really love Christmas trees. No, seriously, I looooove them. I never get sick of Christmas stuff. I've already watched Elf twice this month. The songs in the mall already playing? Love that. Bring 'em on, I say. Those songs are classics, people. If you can get sick of Brenda Lee singing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, then we probably won't ever be best friends you Scrooge. 

All those decorations already up in the stores? Awesome. Can't get enough. Life is often bland and sometimes sad and awful and the news scares the "bleeping bleep" out of me, so I'm not going to apologize for enjoying the twinkling and sparkling and colourful eye candy that makes the world a prettier place at Christmas time - no I won't.

So back to the trees. Every year I think there's not going to be anything new or exciting that can be done with Christmas Trees that hasn't been done before...and every year I am pleasantly surprised at how the brilliant, creative minds on this earth find a way to prove me wrong. There ARE new and fun and whimsical and stylish things happening again this year, so I'm here to tell you all about them. And...hopefully...inspire you to bring a little of that "prettier place" to the world inside your own little home.  Pardon the scrolling, but I know most of y'all will be on your mobile, so this way you can see all the pics close-up at your leisure rather than in some slow-loading slideshow.

The Pet-Themed Tree

I may not be one of them, but I know there are many people out there who consider their pets to be as much a part of their family as any human being, so I totally get why you might want to have a tree to celebrate that.

Gilded Golden Goldyness

There aren't many times when you can parade a bunch of gold stuff in your home without looking like some creepy villain in an Austin Powers movie, so you might as well take the opportunity when Christmas rolls around. (p.s. Owls are back again this year too. I still don't know why...)

Variations of Blue

I love mixing it up with some blues at Christmas. If you - or a member of your household - also happens to be of the Jewish faith, this is a great way to compromise the heresy of having a tree because you are at least incorporating Hanukkah colours, right? That may - MAY - even prevent your Jewish Mother In Law from refusing to come over while the tree is up :) Not that this has happened to any friends of mine, wink wink. Chrismakkah anyone? Ok, now I just miss Seth on the O.C.

Try a blue plaid/polar bear look, or an arctic blue theme with tons of white (so cool and fresh), or try a peacock-themed tree (so rich and elegant looking), or an aquatic-life-inspired tree that will be sure to be a kid-pleaser.

Woodland 2.0

We saw it last year, and it's back. And not just because retailers didn't sell out of it all last year (although that is definitely part of it - don't think I don't remember some of these from last year you sneaky retailers). Grab some twigs and felt and fur and wool and a few woodland creatures and you've got the perfect tree for the cottage if you ask me.  Reds & browns, or whites & browns tend to work best.

Chalkboard Messages

You'll find these hanging Christmas-shaped chalkboards - both as ornaments and as wall art - in many stores this year. Add your own personal message and you've got some nice customization in your decor! Note: these scarves are adorable as garland, no?

Ombre and Colour-Blocking

Pick a few colours and be sure to get a taller tree, then layer the colours in equal segments to achieve a cool ombre or colour-blocked look. So stylish and simple (not to mention affordable) because you can achieve impact with just balls alone.

The Upside Down Christmas Tree

Hey...why not?  I mean, if you have the handiness to somehow attach your tree to the ceiling or create some type of mounting mechanism, I say go for it. It's definitely a conversation starter if you're having a party, and if you hang lots of long, dangly icicles it looks absolutely stunning.

Ode-to-an-80's-Mom Tree

I don't know why this happened, but every mom in suburban North America got infected with some kind of virus that made them want to decorate every room in their home with forest green and dusty rose in the 80's. December is on a Thursday this year, so why not make it a #throwbackthursday with this blast-from-the-past look.

Super Red

Tone on tone red red red! If you love red, then by all means, go overboard and really make a statement here. Maybe you're a Game of Thrones fan and you want to pay homage to Red Wedding. Whatever your motivation, just do me a favour and think about the rest of the decor in the room you're putting the tree in, because if it's not neutral, you could have yourself some kind of four-alarm clash-attack by doing this.

Ginormous Oversized Ornaments

I'll finish off with my favourite new trend this year, which is to basically grab anything huge and colourful and not too heavy from your home and stuff it into your tree. I'm actually totally into this. Grab some festive pillows or some stockings or stuffed animals or a giant reindeer head, and throw 'em on! You're in for a visual treat that will wow adults and mesmerize the kids.

Sorry again for the mega-scroll. Thanks to my trio of always-awesome holiday idea stores for letting me take paparazzi photos of all your trees as usual: Terra, Holland Park and Centro Garden (all in Burlington) - your creative teams never disappoint!

Hope you found some fun inspiration and are looking forward to making your 2014 Christmas Tree something special! Cheers to the holidays!!!

~xo