By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
You’ve seen people of all ages wear these “rubber” bracelets, anklets and necklaces with holograms on them, and you knew it wasn’t just another Livestrong copycat. But what are these things? Well, let me tell you…
My son has been wearing a holographic necklace for years. Designed for surfers, he swears by Power Balance to help him with his balance in such sports as surfing, skimming, skateboarding, wakeboarding and snowboarding. The website explains how it works and it’s pretty straightforward: the body’s cells naturally generates electro-magnetic energy, which is essential for the body’s performance [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
During the summer months, I inevitably put on some weight due to all the BBQ’s that we either host or are invited to. I eat way too many burgers and potato salad and, let’s not mention all the Bloody Caesars (a Canadian version of the Bloody Mary).
When I discovered ShaToBu (that’s short for SHAping, TOning and BUrning calories) I thought “This is just what I need!” According to the website, “ShaToBu shapes, tones and burns up to 12% more calories as women go about their daily activities. With regular wear, women can see and feel [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
My friend Tammi told me about these eco-friendly Yubo lunchboxes that she bought for her two daughters. After checking out their website I could see what she was so excited about. Every year I would throw out my children’s old lunch boxes because they were so dirty and raggedy. It won’t be the case with these. The Yubo lunchboxes completely come apart to wash in the  dishwasher. They are also BPA free, antimicrobial and recyclable. They offer three different shapes of storage containers that can be mixed and matched, keep everything organized, so no more need for plastic bags. See all [...]

Just add water.
We might be a tad too old for the water paint coloring books but we can now get the same kick from walking in the rain with the mood-lifting Squidarella Umbrella. The umbrella, designed in London by Squiderella, is printed with a design that is then covered with a special ink. When the ink gets wet, it reveals the colors beneath it.

See it in action here:
I never thought I would ever look forward to heading out in the rain, but now…
You can buy the Squidarella umbrella online here. Works well for those who hate the rain and [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
I recently went camping for five days  with my sister, her daughter and my two daughters. On the third day, it rained so heavily, with no sign of letting up, that we decided to head to town. We ended up in a Wal-Mart Superstore, in the pharmacy department. My niece, Alex, discovered these great Nail Color Pens by Sally Hansen. We grabbed a bunch of colors with some of the Nail Art Pens and headed back to the campground for an impromptu Mani-Pedi party.
The pens were so easy to use. My 4 and 6 year olds had no [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
Connie Henderson created Amber’s Garden Ready-to-Plant Gardens because her daughter, Amber, loved to garden with her.  Being a parent to small children myself, I love to garden with them also, but the concept of spreading the seeds around evenly is lost on them.  Usually we get a clump of little sprouts and the rest void of growth.
Connie came up with this great idea of threading burlap mats with seeds.  The whole burlap mat is placed on a layer of dirt and then covered with dirt.  Each mat shows what you are planting and where.  There [...]

As a Canadian, the Tilley’s travel sportswear brand was to me as iconic as, say, Land’s End is here in the US. It’s only in doing a little research for this article that I realized that the company has only been around since 1980. Only? Yeah, that’s 30 whole years, but in my mind the Tilley Hat is legendary and in general, legends are older than 30 years old…
My husband is on his third Tilley Hat. Not because any of them have been worn out, but rather because he has been losing them in transit. No other hat will do [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
Annie Haven realized that there was an interest in her horse and cow manure from local vegetable farmers and hobby gardeners. As we all know, Gardening 101 teaches us that the best fertilizers for the garden is manure. Haven’s manure became so popular is because all their livestock are fed natural grass, free of antibiotics, growth hormones and pesticides.
So, Annie came up with the idea of creating a new, easy, less smelly, less messy way of spreading manure: her unique Manure Tea Bags (NOT for drinking) which use the manure from her livestock (even the [...]

You know the scene. Where’s my phone. I know I left it here. Where’s my phone. Shoot, it’s on silent/out of battery. Where’s my phone…
I’d love to say this happens only to my husband and to my kids, but to be honest, it happens a lot to me too, mostly because I have way too many options to carry my phone. Handbag? Clutch? Computer bag? Gym bag? Phone wallet? Coat pocket? Oy!
So, as you can guess, I’m going to tell you that this little device solves the locating problem. It does, and then some. It’s called the Zomm and, [...]

Now, I know that I’ll personally never get a tattoo (I’m too afraid of what it’ll look like when I’m old and wrinkly) but it might be fun to toy with some temporary embellishments. Summer is for baring skin, might as well beautify it with skin art… before I’m really old and wrinkly.
I believe that the temporary tattoo trend might have been rendered acceptable and stylish and perhaps even sophisticated when la maison Chanel introduced its temp-tatt collection earlier this year. They’re cool, though perhaps a little obnoxious but they are also Chanel-priced at $75 for the pack. So, we [...]