On São Miguel, pink roses and white hydrangeas grow like weeds along the main roads. The lakes are blue or green or, in the case of Lagoa das Sete Ciadades’s Lagoa Verde and Lagoa Azul, both – because of how the area’s varied geography causes the sunlight to reflect on the water in different hues. […]
Author: Maryam Siddiqi
How to make the most of the competitive spa scene in Scottsdale, Arizona
“Do you mind if I put my knees into your glutes?” I did not mind one bit. The massage therapist at the spa at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz., climbed onto the massage bed and then on to me, positioned her knees and then, holding my wrists, pulled my torso up and back. […]
Dining with a group is better for our health, so why is everybody eating alone?
Recently, I was watching Instagram stories while preparing a meal from Chef’s Plate, a food-delivery service that ships recipes and premeasured ingredients to customers’ front doors. As the videos scrolled by, I saw that two other friends were also in the midst of putting together their own Chef’s Plate meals. That is, we were all about […]
Something’s brewing: Canada warms up to the luxury tea market
On an early December evening in Vancouver, hundreds donned sparkles and suits to walk a red carpet downtown despite the unusually snowy weather. Supermodel Coco Rocha was a guest of honour and posed with party patrons, as well as with the event’s hosts, Taha Bouqdib and Maranda Barnes. The couple had invited the crowd to […]
Co-working 2.0: The office space race
Nicola Morgan’s co-working space, which she co-founded in late 2014, is in many ways like the others one would find in Toronto and other cities around the world. The big, airy space on Dundas Street West, at the north end of Roncesvalles Village, boasts dedicated desks and shared tables for working as well as private […]
Fit to print: Why shoppers still gravitate to the printed page
Legend has it that after the Bible, the second-most popular book found in homes around the world is the Ikea catalogue. This year, between Aug. 14 and Aug. 25, Ikea will distribute almost 7 million copies of its latest volume in Canada alone. The Sweden-based furniture retailer’s catalogue has been around since 1951, when the […]
A singular trip: What I learned from 193 days of solo travel
“If I never have to eat dinner alone again, it will be too soon” is the thought that ran through my head on a loop as I sat at a table for one in a desperately-in-need-of-a-renovation resort in the Whitsundays, a collection of islands off the coast of Queensland, Australia. In the restaurant that evening […]
For a quintessential Newfoundland experience, nothing beats shacking up in an authentic saltbox
Janet Denstedt and Richard Wharton acquired their first saltbox home in the community of Fogo in 2009. The couple, who were Ontario-based at the time, were on the island, off Newfoundland’s northern coast, looking to purchase a vacation property. During a lunch visit to a local restaurant, Wharton started speaking to one of the eatery’s employees who mentioned that […]
Our chairs are killing us, but that’s just the start. Why it’s time to re-think the entire office
There is a workplace where employees can drop off dry cleaning onsite and chat with an in-house doctor before arriving at their desks. Low on cash, they can hit the ATM on the way to the onsite convenience store, or go to the gym for a mid-morning break. There’s no cafeteria here, not in the […]
I hate food: A look at the chemistry behind the crave (or lack thereof)
While I have been known to take the odd photograph of a dish at dinner, and occasionally eat at the most au courant of restaurants, I would never describe myself as a foodie. I’ve had the same breakfast every day for the past 10 years: a glass of green sludge (a powdered supplement mixed with water […]