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Canadian dollar hits three-year high

TORONTO - The Canadian dollar rose to its best level in more than three and a half years against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, as debt fears in the United States continued to slam the greenback.

The loonie climbed as high as $1.0625, its strongest level since November 2007, when it hit a modern-day high.

The U.S. dollar fell across the board, plunging to a record low against the Swiss franc, as a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama Monday night gave no sign of a swift breakthrough in deadlocked talks to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

Commodity prices such as oil also rallied on a weaker U.S. dollar, though investors shrugged off fears that a U.S. default would undermine the appetite for riskier assets, while a run of strong earning reports further boosted market sentiment.

"The political brinksmanship that's being played out south of the border is clearly having an impact on the U.S. dollar," said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank Financial, noting talk of central banks' reserves diversifying out of the U.S. dollar and into other currencies, such as Canada's.

"Pretty well every currency is trading as a safe-haven currency when compared with the U.S. in terms of its current environment but that could change on a dime."

The United States edged closer on Tuesday to a devastating default as Republicans and Democrats were deadlocked over competing plans to raise the debt ceiling, one week before a deadline to act.

At 8:09 a.m., the loonie stood at $1.0620, up from Monday's North American session close of $1.0573.

Spitz said there was no major technical resistance for the Canadian dollar on its way to the November 2007 high, when the currency hit $1.10.

"From a technical perspective, it's air below the calendar low in dollar/Canada until we get to the modern day low," he said.

Psychologically, he noted investors will look at international money market levels, with $1.07 as the next major mark insight.
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Canadian+dollar+hits+three+year+high/5159842/story.html#ixzz1TDiUAC00

Mom, I want to be a vegetarian. What every parent needs to know

By Andrea Holwegner, For Postmedia News
www.canada.com

For Kathleen, who’s mom to three teenage girls, life was a household full of raging adolescent hormones and a revolving door of friendships — so she felt like rolling with change was something she was good at.

But when her youngest daughter Cate announced she was no longer eating meat, Kathleen found this was hard to manage.

For a while, Kathleen hoped that she would grow out of this, but after several months of food wars at supper she realized her daughter’s vegetarian commitment was not just a fad.

The good news is that with a little planning you can ensure your vegetarian teenagers get the nourishment they need to grow and be healthy.

Progress gradually

Choosing to start off as a strict vegan who consumes no animal foods whatsoever is grounds for complete disaster.

Instead, I recommend all vegetarians start off slowly. Remind them that they need to be open to embracing new knowledge, foods and cooking skills. Working with a dietitian and purchasing some books and vegetarian recipe books is a good idea.

Make a deal with your teenager that you will support them with their vegetarian diet if they can prove to you they can do it in a healthy way.

Encourage them to start off with substituting a few traditional meat-based meals per week with vegetarian meals.

Then, if this is going well, they should become a lacto-ovo vegetarian who consumes dairy foods and eggs before ever considering complete elimination of all animal-derived foods.

Replace, don’t eliminate

Many teenage vegetarians dislike a wide range of veggies, so when they begin skipping meat, poultry and seafood, it means they could be subsisting on vegetarian pizza, french fries and sweets.

This, of course, doesn’t supply enough balanced nutrition to grow and develop properly. You may think your teenager is old enough to fend for themselves, but I rarely see teenage vegetarians achieve optimal nourishment without help from parents.

Many vegetarians don’t realize it is about replacing, not eliminating.

If your teen chooses not to eat meat, poultry or seafood that supply protein, iron and vitamin B12, they need to incorporate foods such as legumes (beans, lentils and chickpeas), nuts, seeds and soy foods (such as tofu or veggie burgers) instead.

As a rule of thumb, I would suggest aiming to eat these foods at least twice per day. For example, a day that includes black bean soup for lunch and a tofu-based stir-fry for supper is a good start.

If dairy foods are not consumed, be sure to incorporate enough calcium-and vitamin D-fortified beverages and foods: aim to have three to four cups of fortified soy milk or fortified rice milk per day.

Be mindful of eating disorders

At my nutrition counselling practice, we treat teenage vegetarianism as a red flag for an eating disorder. While there are certainly political, environmental and other valid reasons to embrace a vegetarian lifestyle, sometimes the decision may stem from an attempt to lose weight -- so it’s important to understand the underlying reasons.

Signs of a potential eating disorder may include body image dissatisfaction, restriction of junk foods or past foods typically enjoyed, increased exercise, not wanting to eat in front of others, using the washroom after eating, dieting or weight loss.

Body image issues in a growing adolescent and eating disorders do not go away on their own and instead require comprehensive help from health care specialists

Turning a potential eating disorder around early is far easier than waiting until the problem is deeply ingrained.

You, as a parent, have an intuitive sense to pick up on your teenager’s relationship with body image and food — trust this.

Five great vegetarian meals:

- Baked potato topped with canned beans in tomato sauce, grated cheese or soy cheese and a tossed salad.

- Taco salad with black beans, salsa, avocado, taco chips and salad dressing.

- Vegetarian pizza with peppers, onions, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese or soy cheese.

- Stir-fry with mixed Asian veggies, tofu, sesame seeds or other nuts and teriyaki sauce served over noodles or rice.

- Chick pea or lentil Indian curry with veggies served with naan bread or rice.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Michael Kors....American Idol

June 29, 2011
Harper's Bazaar Magazine

Michael Kors: American Idol


Michael Kors, the designer best known for his glam fashions and arch humor, celebrates 30 years in the business. Read the interview below and then check out highlights from his 30 years in the business as well as a behind-the-scenes look at his 30th anniversary show.
By Elisa Lipsky-Karasz

It's just before 10:00 a.m., and inside one of the hulking granite shopping malls on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, a small crowd clutching steaming Venti Starbucks coffees is gawking at the scene unfolding through a shop window. A girl wearing a pink Juicy Couture tracksuit rushes up to the boutique's locked door to get a better snap with her iPhone. The object of her ardor is not Justin Bieber on a VIP shopping trip, however. It's designer Michael Kors, who is oblivious to all the attention as he focuses his charm on the four women he is styling for Oprah Winfrey's very last makeover show.

"Oh! You are more tan than I am," he exclaims in mock anger as he catches sight of one of his charges, a Chicago policewoman he's dolling up. "Let's do a tan-off. My dermatologist is going to kill me, but I lie to her all the time." As he trots around his store, happily kitting out each woman in Michael Kors booty — sequined sheaths, swaths of sand-colored jersey, and gold stiletto sandals — he dispenses as many tips and feel-good mantras as the queen of talk herself. "You're not short, you are petite," he corrects one diminutive woman. "Dress your down look up," he instructs. And "beige plus blonde equals gold," he singsongs to a platinum-maned dame as he selects jewelry. "That's fashion math."

"Fashion math" is just one Kors-ism. There's also "fashion fat," meaning when those who might be an ideal weight in the real world can't squeeze into a sample size. Then there's "fashion fame," which is different from that of, say, Kors's really famous friends, like Gwyneth Paltrow and Michael Douglas. Kors himself has attained this beatific state (where one gets great tables at restaurants but not too much paparazzi attention) thanks mostly to dispensing such quips as a judge on Project Runway. Adoring fans have even gathered them into homemade mashups on YouTube. Such notoriety does, however, mean a lot of time spent chatting with his fans about their shoes, their bags, or their Kors printed caftans, even at such far-flung locales as the Fontelina beach club in Capri, Italy. His business has benefited from such recognition too, with his three lines — Michael Kors collection, Kors Michael Kors, and Michael Michael Kors — collectively drawing $1 billion a year.

But being so approachable would be anathema to many designers. Kors is hyperaware that he is hardly a reclusive artiste: He sends his models down the runway with huge smiles plastered on their faces to punchy, poppy feel-good musical hits of yore and does his very own catwalk finale turn. "We all laugh because he walks the whole runway," says dear friend Aerin Lauder. "Most designers just peek their head out and wave." But intellectual fashion is not Kors's calling card, as many of his designs, though luxe, have a familiar and pleasingly visceral appeal; think the perfect 10-ply cashmere crewneck or a sublime tawny floor-sweeping knitted-fox fur.

"There are two kinds of designers: ones who are very happy locked in their office surrounded by their coterie. The last thing they need to do is to go to a trunk show; they'd go running for the hills," he says, sitting down for a brief break in his swank Chicago hotel suite. "I not only enjoy it, I think, how do you design things that are applicable to life — unless you live it?" He contentedly munches on minibar Pringles and goes on to talk about being a "Gleek."

It's been three decades since Kors started his namesake line, a milestone he recently celebrated with all the trappings of the life he's cultivated. First was an intimate party at the Carlyle hotel after his Fall 2011 show where he was feted by Anjelica Huston, Patti Hansen, and Rene Russo. (Kors used to sneak into the hotel at 15 to see Bobby Short, "thinking I was very glamorous with a coat over my shoulder and a big polka-dot pocket square and tie.") That was followed by a splashy dinner in Paris at the U.S. ambassador's residence, complete with Mary J. Blige performing and a raucous dance party. "I just thought, what a great way to finish the whole thing off and say thank you to everyone who's been a part of the 30 years from around the world," he says.

Being serenaded by Blige while supermodels wearing Michael Kors kiss his rosy cheeks is practically his birthright. "I grew up in a family of people who were obsessed with fashion," says Kors, who was born Karl Anderson Jr. to his mother, Joan, a former Revlon model, on Long Island. A very young Kors would accompany his grandmother Bea Hamburger on her daily buying trips to Loehmann's Back Room. "It was a sport." His grandfather, meanwhile, was a dandy. "If you said to him, 'What do you want to do on Saturday, go to a baseball game?' He would say, 'No, do you want to come with me? I have a fitting at the tailor.'" At a mere five years old, Kors styled his mother's wedding dress for her marriage to his stepfather, Bill Kors (whose moniker he took, simultaneously changing his first name). "The bows are terrible. Take off the bows," he remembers telling his mother, who at that moment became the original sleek Kors girl.

"I was always pushing her," he remembers of advising his mother, who favored low-key, simple fashions. "I was like, 'What about hot pants? Think about marabou. What about palazzos?'" Meanwhile, his grandmother taught him to never underestimate the value of a dramatic entrance. "She liked everything printed, patterned, colorful, embellished; there couldn't be enough. Five days in Florida meant six wig boxes and four furs."

Read more: Michael Kors Interview — Michael Kors Fashion Quotes - Harper's BAZAAR



http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/feature-articles/best-looks-resort-2012
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/feature-articles/michael-kors-interview

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Lloyd Webber’s Latest Creation: Breathing Space

LONDON -- Andrew Lloyd Webber has earned seven Tony Awards, a knighthood and hundreds of millions of dollars for writing some of the most popular musicals of all time, from his 1968 breakthrough, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” to “The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show ever on Broadway. Nearly as legendary is his ego, a self-confidence worthy of an impresario whose success has long emboldened him to think on grand scales.

Which is why it was hard to believe Mr. Lloyd Webber when he said, during a recent interview, that he may stop involving himself in future productions of his work.

But he sounded perfectly sincere expounding on that comment as he sat high above the stage of his London Palladium Theater, like a lord in the heavens of the upper balcony. Stagehands below were setting up the yellow brick road for the evening performance of “The Wizard of Oz,” a largely faithful musical adaptation of the cherished film that he produced and for which he and Tim Rice wrote a few new songs. He said he may bring “Oz” to Broadway. Or he may not.

Mr. Lloyd Webber, 63, chalked up his ambivalence of late to the otherwise happy occasions of recently seeing “the two best productions of my shows that I had nothing to do with”: the revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, which he hopes will come to Broadway, and a production of “Love Never Dies,” a sequel to “Phantom,” in Melbourne, Australia.

“Love Never Dies” has been a particularly bittersweet experience for Mr. Lloyd Webber, to hear him describe it during a rare and candid discussion. One of the highest-stakes sequels in history, given the popularity of “Phantom,” “Love Never Dies” coincided with Mr. Lloyd Webber’s treatment for prostate cancer. He said he struggled to write the musical, and his usual role as a hands-on producer was scrambled somewhat by his illness. The show opened in London in 2010 to mostly harsh reviews. A subsequent retooling drew some better notices, but overall negative buzz doomed the production, which will close next month.

While the Melbourne version looks more successful, Mr. Lloyd Webber said he was mindful that he did not have a hand in mounting it. “I just said, ‘That’s the score, do what you can,’ ” he recalled telling the director in Melbourne, Simon Phillips.

“So I’ve now decided what I might do is to have nothing to do with my shows for the foreseeable future, which is probably a very sound idea,” said Mr. Lloyd Webber, who was tanned and relaxed in an open-collared shirt and slacks, and whose tone only now and then turned solemn.

Pressed on this notion of self-exile, he pointed out that he also played no role in Des McAnuff’s mounting of “Superstar” in Stratford, which opened last month to laurels from critics. While Mr. Lloyd Webber holds the rights for a Broadway transfer of the McAnuff production, he said he was inclined to assign them to other producers.

“I don’t think I should be involved in bringing it into New York, really, on the grounds that anything I get involved with seems to go wrong,” he said. “I’ve come to this new conclusion. I’ll just smile and turn up at opening nights.”

Well, not quite. To assume that Mr. Lloyd Webber might be pulling back from the theatrical scene underestimates both his self-professed workaholism and his creative interests, which have only widened thanks to his near-giddy infatuation with casting stage shows through television contests. He is also, obviously, a man with strong opinions and a history of acting upon them. (His view that the original “Oz” score was underwritten, for instance, led him to compose new songs like “Nobody Understands Me” for Dorothy and “Red Shoes Blues” for the Wicked Witch.) But some of his recent collaborators said that Mr. Lloyd Webber seemed content to give way.

“Andrew has been very gracious, making it clear that he was happy to let us build our own ‘Superstar,’ ” Mr. McAnuff said by telephone last month.

Mr. Lloyd Webber has also had a largely hands-off role in the first Broadway revival of one of his best-known works, “Evita,” which originally ran in New York from 1979 to 1983 and won seven Tonys, including best musical. The revival, which is expected to open next year, is the brainchild of the Tony-winning director Michael Grandage (“Red”), who said in an interview that he wanted to reflect “all that has been learned about Argentina and, in particular, the life of the Perons since the original production.” He said he had briefed Mr. Lloyd Webber on new ideas for the musical, and added that he felt no pressure to be slavish to the original work.

“While we are keen to pay homage to the original iconic production in certain places, Andrew has also been very supportive of our wish to bring a new version to Broadway,” Mr. Grandage said.

Mr. Lloyd Webber, in tracing the recent career path that had led him to “Oz” at the Palladium, was neither defensive about creative failures nor prone to excuses, like the perfectly reasonable one of prostate cancer. Yet he did show a survivor’s capacity to assess life — and his own faults — without flinching.

I’ve learned, to my cost in some ways, I have a compulsive desire to write and work, and sometimes I’ve let myself into just doing something because I really just needed to do it,” he said. “So I got myself involved with a couple of musicals that probably I should not have done.”

He cited “The Woman in White,” his adaptation of the 1860 mystery novel by Wilkie Collins, which ran for only three and a half months on Broadway during the 2005-6 season (though he did receive a Tony nomination, for best score, his latest). His most recent success on Broadway was back in 1995, when “Sunset Boulevard” won seven Tonys, including for best musical, and ended up running for two and a half years — though it did not recoup its entire $13 million capitalization, a spokesman for Mr. Lloyd Webber said.

“Love Never Dies,” meanwhile, “had so many layers of problems,” Mr. Lloyd Webber said.

“One, I had cancer, and I therefore was not as involved with the production as I might have been,” he said. “And the production itself frankly didn’t deliver, and I was not on the case, and there was nobody around helping me to produce it who was also on the case. What I can’t tell is, I don’t know if there’s a subliminal resistance to the idea of a sequel to ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ anyway.”

While a Broadway production of “Love Never Dies” was postponed after the London problems, Mr. Lloyd Webber revealed that, even with the positive reviews in Melbourne, he was not sure that version would come to New York.

“I think there are a lot of people who would love to see it go there, but I think that we’re all realistic, and I think with the baggage that it’s got, it might be better to just let it be discovered,” he said of the musical, which will be filmed and sold on DVD.

The director of the London production of “Love Never Dies,” Jack O’Brien, a Tony winner for “Hairspray” and other shows, declined to comment when told of Mr. Lloyd Webber’s remarks. (In turn Mr. Lloyd Webber said that he had great respect for Mr. O’Brien.)

These last experiences were so distressing to Mr. Lloyd Webber that he said he was being “very careful” with developing original musicals — so much so that he does not have one in the works. He is talking to the producer Cameron Mackintosh about reviving another hit, “Cats,” in London in 2013 or 2014 (he had no idea if it would come to Broadway), and he is fielding interest in a film version of “Joseph.” His theatrical empire, the Really Useful Group, manages several theaters in the West End and oversees other projects.

For all that, he added, he would love to work on another new musical.

“I just can’t find a subject at the moment,” Mr. Lloyd Webber said. Asked about his sources of inspiration for musical ideas, his voice turned to a whisper. “You never know,” he replied, and then added: “It can just be as simple someone saying something, and out of the blue saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that.’ But so far I haven’t found anything at all.”

By comparison, he has found great comfort in his television casting shows, which Really Useful Group has produced with the BBC since the first installment, in 2006, which sought to find an actress to play the lead role of Maria in a “Sound of Music” revival. Mr. Lloyd Webber ended up serving as a judge, offering performers advice and deploying a sexual double entendre or two (unprintable here).

“It was the most dangerous decision that I ever took, because I didn’t know that I would work on television, and, second thing, it could have been a complete, complete disaster if we didn’t find the right girl to play Maria,” he said. Viewers ended up selecting a young actress named Connie Fisher, and, as hoped, many of them ended up buying tickets to see her. The revival ran in London for more than two years, and Mr. Lloyd Webber followed it up with reality casting shows for productions of “Joseph,” “Oliver!” and “Oz.”

While he credited the television series with expanding the audience for musical theater, he also described them as simply a pleasure to do during a time when he needed more laughter in his life.

“There’s no getting around it: Writing is hard, while working with young performers is nearly always a joy,” said Mr. Lloyd Webber, who is now cancer free but whose health still wavers. “I do want to write again. I hope to. But it’s also important for me to realize, as I get older, that I don’t have to be doing everything all at once.”

Stolen Canadian passports a hot commodity

OTTAWA — One of Canada's most respected assets — our passport — is under siege, with more than 1,000 stolen across the country every month on average, Passport Canada has revealed.

The surprising disclosure was made in the agency's latest annual report, which says 13,077 passports were stolen in fiscal 2009-10. By comparison, only 631 were swiped overseas. Another 47,704 passports were reported lost in Canada.

Before 2006, about 25,000 passports were reportedly lost or stolen annually. That number jumped to almost 43,000 in 2006-07, coinciding with a surge in demand because of new U.S. passport requirements for Canadian and other western travellers. By 2008-09, it was 53,000. Now, it's hit 60,781.

But only in the latest annual report has Passport Canada broken down the combined "lost and stolen" total and publicly revealed the extent of the theft problem.

Passport Canada officials, operating under the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, say the number of passports lost or stolen is quite low in proportion to the total number of valid passports in circulation.

"While it may appear to be rising, the number of lost/stolen passports has remained quite static in proportion to the total number of valid passports in circulation over the last three years," Beatrice Fenlon, spokeswoman for Passport Canada, said in an email response provided to Postmedia News.

In 2009-10, the total number of passports reported lost or stolen was 60,781, which represents 0.3205 per cent of the 18,962,745 passports in circulation as of April 2010, Fenlon wrote.

In 2008-09, the number of passports reported lost or stolen was 53,515, which represents 0.3145 per cent of the 17,015,462 passports in circulation as of April 2009.

And the year before that, 51,915 of the 15,515,042 passports in circulation were reported lost/stolen, representing 0.3346 per cent of the total.

"Over the last three years, the number of passports reported lost/stolen has remained consistent at about 0.3 per cent (of the total number of valid passports)," Fenlon said.

However, the RCMP believes those missing passports are a national security concern because of their potential use by terrorists or other criminals.

A 2006 RCMP memo to then-public safety minister Stockwell Day said about 50,000 Canadian passports lost or stolen in the four previous years were suspected of falling into the hands of criminals or terrorists.

A primary concern is identity theft, one of the fastest-growing crimes in the world. In Canada, identity theft is estimated to cost the economy $2 billion annually.

In late 2009, an RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team raided dozens of locations around Montreal and Toronto — including three daycare centres — and smashed what police said was a vast criminal network specializing in forging passports and other official documents. Police said bona fide passports "obtained through various means" were forged to create new identities.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) says terrorist groups rely, to some degree, on crimes including passport forgery to raise money.

CSIS director Richard Fadden told a parliamentary committee last summer that foreign spies value the Canadian passport, too.

"I think one of the reasons that Canada's so attractive is that we're so well-viewed around the world, and our passports are accepted virtually anywhere, so there is a level of concern," he said.

What's more, federal officials say confidence in Canadian passports — that the bearer is who he says he is — is critical to trade, the economy and international travel.

Passport Canada, at the urging of former federal auditor general Sheila Fraser, has implemented a number of security measures in recent years, including quick notification about lost and stolen passports to the national police information database, Canada Border Services Agency, Citizenship and Immigration and, through the RCMP, Interpol.

Fenlon said when informed that a passport has been stolen or lost, Passport Canada immediately invalidates the passport within its system and the Canadian Police Information Centre, and communicates the information to other agencies with which it has information-sharing agreements, including Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and the Canada Border Services Agency.

"In many cases the passports do 'turn up' — whether the bearer finds it or someone else who then turns it in to the authorities. For example, someone who finds a purse (and the passport is inside) may return it to their nearest police station," she said.

All passports reported lost or stolen that are returned to Passport Canada are sent to its security bureau for inspection and destruction. Once a passport has been reported lost or stolen it is no longer valid and cannot be used for travel. This is to ensure that it is not used for fraudulent purposes, Fenlon said.

"Before a lost or stolen document can be replaced, Passport Canada conducts an investigation into the circumstances. This may lead to delays in processing the replacement passport," she said.

A replacement passport, which may only be valid for a limited period, may be authorized if strict requirements are met. These include the submission of a statutory declaration concerning the lost or stolen passport.

More than 4.8 million Canadian passports were issued in 2009, a 137-per-cent increase since 2000-01. Late next year, Passport Canada is to be begin distributing electronic passports to the general public. The ePassports feature biometric and holographic security measures to combat tampering and fraud.

Ottawa Citizen, with files from Postmedia News.

Home, sweet-smelling home. Fragrances add personality, luxury to living spaces

Dressing up your home is not just about furniture and lighting. Scent also plays a big role — like the perfect cologne or eau de toilette to complement a great outfit.

An increasing number of companies are realizing this trend and have concocted a wide variety of fabulous home fragrances, ranging from floral to fruity scents, to invigorate your living environment.

The oldest and most famous home fragrances are by Lampe Berger Paris (en.lampe berger.ca). Created by pharmacist Maurice Berger in 1898 to purify the air in hospitals, these high-end oil-burning lamps are as beautiful as they are effective. Housed in lamps that look more like fancy perfume bottles or shapely pieces of sculpture, aromatherapy oils come in a myriad of exotic scents to deodorize your home.

While some home fragrances are more expensive than their cheaper drug-store counterparts, many do have natural ingredients, including botanical extracts and essential oils, that enable the scent to linger longer.

Carole Teitelbaum, executive vice-president of Bath and Body Works, says there is a growing interest in home fragrances because they're an affordable luxury that changes the atmosphere of any home, much like background music.

"Dinner parties have become very popular and having a (fragrant) home has become very important for a lot of people." She says the key is to not overpower a room with the scent, and gauge the amount used by the size of the space.

"Two quick sprays add an extra burst of fragrance — perfect just before guests start to arrive — that can last for up to four hours," says Teitelbaum.

Used not only to refresh the air and neutralize odours, sprays can also revitalize scented drawer liners or shoes, or you can lightly spritz used dryer sheets for additional use. Here are just a few examples:

- Tropical Rhythm Ambiance Room Spray from Fruits & Passion It comes in six other scents, including Bali bliss and tulip.

Price: $18 for 75 mL fruits-passion.com

- Room sprays from Bath and Body Works in tropical fragrances include island colada, pink sangria and sparkling mojito.

Price: $6.50 for 24 mL bathandbodyworks.com

- Body, Room and Linen Spritz from The Body Shop The variety of scents include pomegranate and raspberry, green tea and lemon, aloe and soft linen, mandarin and tangelo, vanilla and lime blossom, and sandalwood and ginger.

- Price: $10 for 100 mL thebodyshop.ca

- Rosewater Room Spray by Crabtree & Evelyn Other scents include lily of the valley and lavender.

Price: $16 for 100 mL crabtree-evelyn.com

- THANN's paraben-free home scent collection. Scents include oriental essence, Mediterranean floral, aromatic wood, sea foam, sunflower, and rose flower.

Price: $55 for 250 mL thann.ca
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

The heat is on! Be careful out there.

MONTREAL - The summer heat is set to reach its pinnacle Thursday with the mercury climbing to 35 degrees Celsius and the humidex factor making it feel like 42C to 44C.

“It might even get hotter in really urbanized sectors of the city where’s there’s a lot of concrete and asphalt and few trees,” said Environment Canada meteorologist André Cantin.

While this just may be the kind of sultry weather Montrealers yearn for in the dead of winter, experts warn sunny skies must be taken in moderation. From dehydration to exhaustion, it can take a mere hour for heat stroke to escalate to death.

“The window for intervention can be very short from the time of the increase in body temperature,” said Dr. Louis Jacques of Montreal’s Public Health Department. “It’s an emergency situation and there’s a really high lethal rate when you reach the point of heat stroke.”

Last summer, dozens of deaths were suspected to be related to heat waves hitting Montreal, with the city’s average daily death rate doubling during the temperature peak.

To beat the heat, Jacques urges people to spend at least a few hours a day in an air-conditioned place, avoid strenuous activity, especially outside during the hottest parts of the day, and drink more water than usual without waiting to be thirsty.

Signs to watch for include muscle cramps, headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, general discomfort and difficulties breathing.

Jacques instructs individuals suffering from any of these symptoms to call Quebec’s Info-Santé hotline at 811 and to make an immediate trip to the emergency room if they experience confusion, loss of consciousness or a body temperature of 40C or more.

Children under 5 and people older than 65 are especially vulnerable to the heat, as are those suffering from cardiovascular diseases, respiratory ailments or obesity.

“Whenever the temperature increases, our cardiovascular system must work harder to control our body temperature,” Jacques said. “You have to have a system that works really well to do that.”

While Environment Canada has issued a high heat and humidity warning for Montreal, the city does not intend to put its heat emergency plan into effect just yet.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/heat+careful+there/5134001/story.html#ixzz1ShiLd8iX


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/heat+careful+there/5134001/story.html#ixzz1Shi09MBn

U.S. Housing and Economic Forecast Points to Rising Activity

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011


Home sales are expected to stay on an uptrend through 2012, although the performance will be uneven with mortgage constraints weighing on the market, according to experts at a residential real estate forum today at the Realtors® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo here.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said existing-home sales have been underperforming by historical standards and will rise gradually but unevenly. “If we just hold at the first-quarter sales pace of 5.1 million, sales this year would rise 4 percent, but the remainder of the year looks better,” Yun said. “We expect 5.3 million existing-home sales this year, up from 4.9 million in 2010, with additional gains in 2012 to about 5.6 million – that’s a sustainable level given the size of our population.”

Mortgage interest rates should rise gradually to 5.5 percent by the end of the year and average 6.0 percent in 2012 – still relatively affordable by historic standards.

“A huge volume of cash sales, supported by the recovery in the stock market, show that smart money is chasing real estate. This implies that there could be a sizeable pent-up demand if mortgages become more readily accessible for qualified buyers,” Yun said. “The problem isn’t with interest rates, but with the continuation of unnecessarily tight credit standards that are keeping many creditworthy buyers from getting a loan despite extraordinarily low default rates over the past two years.”

Yun said that if credit requirements returned to normal, safe standards, home sales would be 15 to 20 percent higher. He added that some parents are buying homes with cash for their children, and offering them loans which provide better returns than bank accounts or CDs.

Yun projects the Gross Domestic Product to grow 2.5 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2012, adding 1.5 million to 2 million jobs yearly over the next two years. The unemployment rate should decline to 8.8 percent by the end of 2011 and average 8.6 percent next year, returning to a normal level of 6 percent around 2015.

Housing starts are forecast to rise but remain below long-term trends, reaching 603,000 in 2011, up from 595,000 last year, and continue growing to 908,000 in 2012. New-home sales are seen at a record low 320,000 this year, rising to 487,000 in 2012. “A recovery in new homes will be slow because of the extra price discount in the existing home market,” Yun noted. In March, the typical new single-family home cost $53,300 more than an existing home.
Inflation appears to be relatively modest for now, with the Consumer Price Index rising 2.9 percent this year. “We’ll be closely watching the impact of fuel costs on consumer spending and inflation – that would slow economic growth, job creation and home sales,” Yun said.

Apartment rents are trending up, and are likely to rise at faster rates as vacancies decline. Following the correction in home prices, it has now become more affordable to buy in most of the country. “Twice as many renters had enough income to buy a home in 2010 in comparison with 2005, so we have a much larger pool of financially qualified renters,” Yun said. “Rising rents and excellent housing affordability conditions will encourage potential buyers who’ve been on the sidelines.”

Yun expects the median existing-home price to remain near $170,000 over the next two years, which would mark four consecutive years of essentially no meaningful price change.

Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, holds similar views on the outlook. “Economic activity will accelerate this year – there will be no double dip in the economy,” he said. Nothaft is more optimistic on job growth, expecting 2.0 million to 2.5 million jobs created in 2011 with unemployment dropping to 8.4 percent by the end of the year.

Nothaft expects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to trend up to 5.25 percent by the end of the year, and for home sales to rise 5 percent. “National home price indices are close to a bottom and prices are likely to bottom sometime this year,” he said.

Refinancing activity in 2011 will be only half of what it was last year. “As a result, banks may become more willing to lend to home buyers,” Nothaft said.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Montreal traffic

Los Angeles avoided Carmageddon, the mother of all traffic jams expected when a 16-kilometre stretch of Interstate 405 (one of the busiest highways in the U.S.) was closed on the weekend.

Will Montreal survive the “Detour de l’Île,” the name suggested by one responder to The Gazette’s Metropolitan News poll of what Montreal’s summer of traffic turmoil should be dubbed.

Unlike L.A., where traffic anguish never materialized and the bridge demolition behind the closure was actually completed ahead of schedule, there’s no end in sight for Montreal’s traffic headaches.

The Met News unscientific poll asked readers: What should the slogan be for Montreal’s summer of roadwork hell?

Here are the poll results as of 3:15 p.m. Monday:
- Carmageddon
- Mission Impassable
- Carpocolypse
- Ay Caramba
- Others...


Some of the suggestions from readers:

- Detour de l’ Île

- Coney Island

- CarRuption

- One city, one bridge

- Cartastrophe

- Carcophany

Quick, Healthy Snacks and Lunches-to-Go

When life gets busy, eating right can be hard to do. Our increasingly chaotic lifestyles are jam-packed with so many long hours working, taking care of families, trying to maintain healthy relationships, and many other responsibilities that it's often difficult to find the time to take care of ourselves. One of the first things that gets put on the back-burner is eating healthy and getting enough physical activity. However, health should be a priority in all of our lives. With a little planning and self-discipline, making quick but healthy lunches and snacks can be as easy as pie (but I'm not suggesting you choose pie). Consider the easy options below the next time you pack a lunch to take to work or know you have a long busy day ahead of you.

Wraps and sandwiches are great because they take little time to prepare and are travel-friendly. They also allow you to incorporate some of your favorite vegetables and can contain a mixture of fuels (carbohydrates, protein, and fat). Use whole-wheat bread or a whole-grain tortilla or wrap (Flat-Out wraps work wonderfully) and add a lean meat or protein such a sliced turkey or chicken (or beans or tofu if you're a vegetarian). Throw in a slice of reduced-free cheese, an abundance of veggies, and some mustard or light mayonnaise.

Tuna, salmon, chicken, and crab salads make for quick, simple, tasty lunches. Prepare with low-fat mayonnaise (try the kind made with olive oil) or nonfat Greek yogurt, your favorite chopped vegetables (green onions, pickles, radishes, bell peppers, celery and carrots work well and provide some crunch). Adding chopped nuts to these salads will provide a dose of heart-healthy fats, fiber, protein and minerals. Eat the salad between two slices of whole-wheat bread, in a whole-grain wrap or pita pocket, or with some whole-grain crackers. Add a piece of fruit and a glass of skim milk or non-fat yogurt and you've got a complete, well-balanced, healthy meal.

Another quick, easy lunch option that requires no refrigeration is a microwavable pouch of whole-grain brown rice. Uncle Ben's "Ready Rice" pouches, which you microwave in the pouch for just 90 seconds, are a great start to a fast, healthy, delicious meal. You can add your own seasonings, or if you are really strapped for time, pick one that is already flavored. Just be sure to choose a whole-grain variety over the white rice varieties (which usually come in more flavors). Some of the whole-grain varieties come in chicken-flavored or Santa-Fe-flavored packs. There are similar microwavable pouches sold by other brands, so check what's available wherever you buy groceries. A 1-cup serving of these types of microwavable rice pouches has about 190-220 calories and serves as a healthy vehicle for a well-balanced meal. Add plenty of chopped veggies, cooked chicken breast, tofu, tuna or other lean protein source, and top with reduced-fat shredded cheese for a complete meal.

Additionally, be sure to always plan ahead for a sneak snack-attack. Hunger pangs tend to strike mid- to late-afternoon as our blood sugar and serotonin levels drop, causing us to crave carbohydrates to refuel. If you're not prepared, you may find yourself reaching for whatever fat- and calorie-laden leftovers are sitting in the office break-room. Ideally, your meals and snacks should contain a mixture of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and a little healthy fat.

When life gets busy, eating right can be hard to do. Our increasingly chaotic lifestyles are jam-packed with so many long hours working, taking care of families, trying to maintain healthy relationships, and many other responsibilities that it's often difficult to find the time to take care of ourselves. One of the first things that gets put on the back-burner is eating healthy and getting enough physical activity. However, health should be a priority in all of our lives. With a little planning and self-discipline, making quick but healthy lunches and snacks can be as easy as pie (but I'm not suggesting you choose pie). Consider the easy options below the next time you pack a lunch to take to work or know you have a long busy day ahead of you.

Wraps and sandwiches are great because they take little time to prepare and are travel-friendly. They also allow you to incorporate some of your favorite vegetables and can contain a mixture of fuels (carbohydrates, protein, and fat). Use whole-wheat bread or a whole-grain tortilla or wrap (Flat-Out wraps work wonderfully) and add a lean meat or protein such a sliced turkey or chicken (or beans or tofu if you're a vegetarian). Throw in a slice of reduced-free cheese, an abundance of veggies, and some mustard or light mayonnaise.

iStock_000014162714XSmall.jpg Tuna, salmon, chicken, and crab salads make for quick, simple, tasty lunches. Prepare with low-fat mayonnaise (try the kind made with olive oil) or nonfat Greek yogurt, your favorite chopped vegetables (green onions, pickles, radishes, bell peppers, celery and carrots work well and provide some crunch). Adding chopped nuts to these salads will provide a dose of heart-healthy fats, fiber, protein and minerals. Eat the salad between two slices of whole-wheat bread, in a whole-grain wrap or pita pocket, or with some whole-grain crackers. Add a piece of fruit and a glass of skim milk or non-fat yogurt and you've got a complete, well-balanced, healthy meal.

Another quick, easy lunch option that requires no refrigeration is a microwavable pouch of whole-grain brown rice. Uncle Ben's "Ready Rice" pouches, which you microwave in the pouch for just 90 seconds, are a great start to a fast, healthy, delicious meal. You can add your own seasonings, or if you are really strapped for time, pick one that is already flavored. Just be sure to choose a whole-grain variety over the white rice varieties (which usually come in more flavors). Some of the whole-grain varieties come in chicken-flavored or Santa-Fe-flavored packs. There are similar microwavable pouches sold by other brands, so check what's available wherever you buy groceries. A 1-cup serving of these types of microwavable rice pouches has about 190-220 calories and serves as a healthy vehicle for a well-balanced meal. Add plenty of chopped veggies, cooked chicken breast, tofu, tuna or other lean protein source, and top with reduced-fat shredded cheese for a complete meal.

Additionally, be sure to always plan ahead for a sneak snack-attack. Hunger pangs tend to strike mid- to late-afternoon as our blood sugar and serotonin levels drop, causing us to crave carbohydrates to refuel. If you're not prepared, you may find yourself reaching for whatever fat- and calorie-laden leftovers are sitting in the office break-room. Ideally, your meals and snacks should contain a mixture of complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and a little healthy fat.

Here are few quick, easy, healthy snack items to have on hand. You may need to store some in your office's break-room fridge,but you can stash other shelf-stable options in your purse, car, desk, or locker at work. Reach for these when a snack-attack sneaks up on you:

Light string cheese and a piece of fruit
Peanut butter paired with whole-grain crackers or an apple
Beef jerky and whole-grain cereal
Sliced turkey with reduced-fat cheese and mustard and a handful of baby carrots
Trail mix made w/whole-grain cereal or crackers, dried fruit, and nuts
Instant packs of plain oatmeal, topped with nuts and a dash of cinnamon
Canned soups (look for light versions and those with lower sodium)
Nonfat yogurt topped w/ granola or pretzels
Granola bars (choose those that are high in fiber and have less sugar)
Hummus with whole-grain crackers or pita bread, or cut-up vegetables
Pouches of tuna or salmon with whole-grain crackers or rice cakes
A couple of hard-boiled eggs and a whole-wheat toast
Low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese topped with sliced pineapple or cucumber

A snack in the mid- to late-afternoon can help stave off hunger and provide you with a much-needed energy boost. Healthy snacking has also been proven to prevent overeating later in the day, which tends to happen when you eat too few calories throughout the day and overcompensate by binging in the evening.

Kari Hartel, RD, LD is a Registered Dietitian and freelance writer based out of St. Louis, MO. Kari is passionate about nutrition education and the prevention of chronic disease through a healthy diet and active lifestyle.