All year-round, create lush beauty and quiet graces for home and family (without breaking your budget) Tracey McBride's first book, Frugal Luxuries, elevated frugal but elegant living to an art form. Now in this companion volume she shares all new ways to embellish cherished holidays and the timeless rhythms of the seasons. Here she shows how to use joined efforts, loving hands, and exciting ideas to create gracious touches and sumptuous celebrations, delicious meals and wonderful seasonal treats. Learn how you can enrich your home with timeless pleasures and lighten the spirits of those you hold most dear--without exhausting your bank account. Enjoy: Emblems of spring: aromatic Irish linen sachets, warm scones drenched in jam and butter...and mysterious bunny tracks you can make to delight your children Enchanted summers: floral wreaths as party favors, an Italian feast with homemade pasta...and bountiful gifts from the garden Autumnal offerings: scented cinnamon pinecones as fire starters, fresh challah for Rosh Hashana...and a house warmed with fall bouquets and cozy paisley throws Winter wonders: mood-enhancing music, illuminating with lights, inside and out...and a Christmas gift pantry--begun in January--to create stress-free giving Plus an abundance of seasonal blessings, imaginative uses for yard-sale treasures, an appreciation of things old and marvelous...and creation of a life of beauty and simplicity.

Simple pleasures to enchance your life and comfort your soul.

Back cover WELCOME GOOD THINGS TO YOUR LIFECREATE A PERSONAL OASISCELEBRATE THE SEASONSTURN DRAB INTO DYNAMICUNLEASH YOUR CREATIVE GENIUSCREATE ROOMS WITH PIZZAZZ DECORATE A HOME THAT IS UNIQUELY YOURSBECOMING WHO YOU REALLY ARE!

Money affects every aspect of our lives. It affects how we dress, where we live, what we eat and how we spend our free time. It affects our emotions and enhances or detracts from our enjoyment of life. Effective money management is about so much more than just 401(k) contributions and saving money at the grocery store. No matter how much or how little money you earn, the key to financial success is to spend less than you make. However, the majority of Americans spend unconsciously, wasting money on purchases that give them little satisfaction for their investment. Living the Savvy Life teaches how to create habits and routines that allow you to build and manage your finances effortlessly. By learning how to focus spending on what is truly important to you and economizing on those things that are not as important, you can successfully manage your personal finances and enjoy life regardless of your level of income.

Becoming a mother is filled with the extremes of emotion --the highest highs and the lowest lows. But women are often reluctant to talk honestly about the experience for fear they'll be seen as bad mothers. With wit and candor, The Mask of Motherhood takes on the myths and the misinformation, helping women to prepare and deal with the depth of feeling that comes with the experience and perhaps most important, it lets them know that many, if not most, new mothers are feeling the same way.Susan Maushart, sociologist and mother of three, explores how motherhood affects our marriages and friendships, our relationships with parents, our sex lives, and our self-esteem. In The Mask of Motherhood, mothers will find the comfort and reassurance they are looking for, and confirmation that, indeed, motherhood is the toughest job in the world, but can also be the most rewarding.

Winner of the 2018 Taste Canada Awards - Culinary Narratives Vikram Vij, one of Canada’s great chefs, shares his story of the trials and triumphs in building a world-renowned food empire Fragrant with the smells of cumin, turmeric, fennel, and cloves, Vij reveals the story of Vikram Vij, one of Canada’s most celebrated chefs and entrepreneurs. Co-owner of the world-famous Vij’s Restaurant in Vancouver, his story is a true rags-to-riches tale of a college dropout from northern India who made it to Europe’s temples of high cuisine, then with a one-way ticket bound for Canada, found fame serving some of the world’s most transcendent Indian cuisine. Vij’s Restaurant, originally a fourteen-seat establishment known for its extraordinary flavours and spice blends, along with a firm no-reservation policy, received accolades from restaurant critics and patrons alike. A culinary journey that began in India as a boy enjoying the praise of visitors for his chai and biscuits, Vikram’s passion for Indian cooking and his lifelong mission to bring awareness to the culture he left behind have fueled his tireless drive in building a world-renowned food empire. Driven to succeed, Vikram realized his dream to launch five major initiatives under the Vij’s brand by age fifty, but with challenges and sacrifices along the way. For the first time, Vikram opens up about his struggles with prejudice, his mentors’ lasting lessons, and the painful demise of his marriage—both the successes and the failures that have shaped and sharpened one of Canada’s most unique and revered culinary talents.

Dear Inner Critic, meet your inner heroes! As a creative person, you are familiar with the critic--that nagging presence in your head that is always trying to point out your shortcomings. But there is hope: Your inner heroes are also always with you at your worktable. Through the creation of your personal Inner Hero Creative Art Journal (a series of loose-leaf cards, each with a new mixed-media technique), you will invite an inner conversation that will illuminate your best self. Your inner Scribe, Tarot Reader, Alchemist, Gardener and Wise Woman each long to be introduced to your inner critic and to show you a positive and more supportive perspective. Those who wish to step up to their inner critic will soon hear a gentler voice. • Overcome negative self-talk--Each chapter introduces a variety of ideas and exercises to release your inner heroes. • Discover a new format--Loose-leaf watercolor pages become art-journaled cards you will use over and over again to make meaning of your journey. • Mixed media techniques--Discover art-making techniques using inks, photos, watercolors, fabric, eggshells and more to use in your own art journaling. • Additional online content--Links to downloadable worksheets and inspiring variations are sprinkled throughout the book. Step out of the critic's shade and into the warmth and comfort of your own creative light.

One man's quest to seek out--and be inspired by--the great historic kitchens of Canada and the USA. John Ota was a man on a mission--to put together the perfect kitchen. He and his wife had been making do with a room that was frankly no great advertisement for John's architectural expertise. It just about did the job but for a room that's supposed to be the beating heart of a home and a joy to cook in, the Otas' left a lot to be desired. And so John set out on a quest across North America, exploring examples of excellent designs throughout history, to learn from them and apply their lessons to his own restoration. Along the way, he learned about the origins and evolution of the kitchen, its architecture and its appliances. He cooked, with expert instruction. And he learned too about the homes and their occupants, who range from pilgrims to President Thomas Jefferson, from turn of the century tenement dwellers to 21st century Vancouver idealists, from Julia Child to Georgia O'Keeffe, and from Elvis Presley to Louis Armstrong. John Ota has a refreshingly upbeat approach and a hunger for knowledge (and indeed for food). His energy and enthusiasm are contagious, and his insights of lasting value. Illustrated throughout, with photographs and also with drawings by the author, this is a book for homeowners, home makers, interior designers, cooks, armchair historians, and for anyone who--like John Ota before them--is looking for inspiration for a renovation.

For the legions of fans who asked for seconds after devouring French Women Don’t Get Fat, a charming and practical guide to adding some joie to your vie and to your table, every day of the year. By letter, by email and in person, readers of Mireille Guiliano’s phenomenal bestseller French Women Don’t Get Fat have inundated her with requests for more advice. Her answer: this buoyant new book, brimming with tips and tricks for living with the utmost pleasure and style, without gaining weight. More than a theory or ideal, the French woman’s way is an all-encompassing program that can be practised anytime, anywhere. Here are four full seasons of strategies for shopping, cooking and moving throughout the year. Whether your aim is finding two scoopfuls of pleasure in one of crème brûlée, or entertaining beautifully when time is short and expectations are high, the answers are here. And here too are 100 new simple and appetizing recipes that feature French staples such as leeks and chocolate and many more unexpected treats besides, guaranteeing that boredom will never be a guest at your table. Woven through this year of living comme les françaises are more of Mireille’s delectable stories about living in Paris and New York and travelling just about everywhere else – in the voice that has already beguiled a million honorary French women. Lest anyone still wonder: here is a new compendium of reasons – both traditional and modern – why French women don’t get fat.