Adorable Ornaments for Your Christmas Tree

These are the cutest (and most clever) ornaments that we ever did see – darling additions to any Christmas tree!

1. Fisher Price Chatter Telephone Ornament; Fisher Price Pull-a-Tune Xylophone Ornament; Fisher Price Rock-a-Stack Ornament; $10 each (sold separately) at canadiantire.ca  

2. DAVIDsTEA Tea for the Tree Set, $15 at davidstea.com

3. Child To Cherish Snow Print Ornament, $15 at chapters.indigo.ca

4. Starbucks Red Holiday Cup Ornament, $6 at starbucks.ca

5. Hallmark Runway Queen Keepsake Ornament, $19 at Hallmark stores

6. PC Home Life at Home Vintage Owl Ornament, $4 at Loblaws and Real Canadian Superstore

7. philosophy purity made simple 3-in-1 Cleanser for Face and Eyes Ornament, $13 at sephora.ca

8. Dylan's Candy Bar 6-Piece Holiday Ornament Set Filled with Candy, $14 at dylanscandybar.com

9. Forever 21 High Shine Lip Gloss Ornament, $4 at forever21.com

10. Disney Elsa Frozen Shoe Ornament; Disney Frozen Anna Shoe Ornament, $24 each (sold separately) at disneystore.com

Spooky Sweet Treats

Boo! Halloween is just around the corner. Here are five fun tips from Nestlé to ensure you and your friends have a frightful night. 

Decorate. One of the best ways of getting into the scary spirit is by dressing your home with hints of Halloween. Think sculls, cobwebs and even a graveyard.

Tell haunted stories. Telling stories are a great way to bring the family together over some shared scary fun. Make sure to pack your stories with adventure, mystery and thrills for some frightening fun!  

Have a dress-up theme. Whether you make your own costume or buy one from a store, dressing up as your favourite super hero or tv characters is easier than ever and a fun way to get both you and your family in to the Halloween spirit.

Enjoy a scary movie. Set the mood for this spooky season by watching a scary movie; whether it’s a family-friendly flick or a terrifying thriller it’s sure to get everyone in to spooky spirit.

Host a Halloween party. Once you’ve decked out your house, carved the pumpkins and put out your scary treats, it’s time to throw a party and invite the ghouls and goblins of your neighbourhood for a spooky celebration.

Even if you're not throwing a party, you'll want to stock up Nestlé "Crave Yard" Scary chocolate bars. The four chocolate bars are ones that kids and adults alike already know and love, but these limited edition versions have gotten into the dress-up action, too, with spooky-themed packaging and cute names. Be sure get your hands on ScAero, Scaries, Coffin Crisp, and KIT KAT before the Halloween season is over.

$7.69 (box of 8 full-size bars) or $5.99 (pack of 24-treat size bars) at grocery, drug and mass merchandise retailers across Canada

CCG Giveaway Alert!*

Want to make your Halloween a sweet and spooky one? Here's your chance to win one of two Nestlé "Crave Yard" Scary Chocolate Bars Prize Packs!

Read more »

Age Spots Be Gone

We're fine with ageing when it comes to gaining more knowledge, skills and experience, but most of us  tend to want to stop the clock when it comes to the physical changes that go with getting older. Dark spots on the face are namely one sign of ageing we could do without. We recently tried the new Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Treatment Mask and were impressed with the results. The soft facial tissue mask has been soaked in moisturizing serum along with gentle and radiance-boosting actives, so all we had to do is apply the mask on our face, leave it on for 10 minutes and voila! Dark spots were visibly reduced and our skin looked radiant, smooth, and felt moisturized.  The final verdict? This mask is a great, inexpensive and non-invasive method to treat those pesky spots and keep your skin glowing and healthy-looking. 

$15.97 (6 sachets) at walmart.ca; also available at major pharmacies and mass merchandise retailers

(Click here for a coupon for $3 off)

Pack It Up, Pack It In

We've always been vocal of our love of Skip Hop, maker of fun, whimsical baby and kids' products for the nursery, feeding, bath time, and parents' on-the-go needs. Their ZOO Packs are no exception — these kids' backpacks are made of durable materials and has enough space to hold all of your preschooler's supplies for a busy day at school. A mesh side pocket adjusts to fit a juice box, sippy cup or water bottle and a front pouch is ideal for snacks. Comfy padded straps ensure that little shoulders don't get strained. There are currently 16 zoo characters (ladybug, elephant, giraffe, panda, and more) to choose from, so you're sure to find one that'll be a favourite for your kiddo.

$24.95 at chapters.indigo.ca

Rockin' that Flushed Look

Of course the quality of the ingredients that goes into the makeup is important, but we love pretty packaging, too. Benefit Cosmetics is definitely the best of both worlds with their high quality products and ever-ingenious, signature quirky packaging design. Our latest have from the San Francisco-based cosmetics company is the new Rockateur, a rose gold cheek powder complete with its own angled application blush, all housed in a lovely, luxe gold box. A couple of quick sweeps of this soft yet sexy powder across the cheeks is all that's needed for a beautiful glow.

$36 at sephora.ca

Mother Nature in a Bag

There's no better way to start the work day (or any day) than with a healthy and delicious breakfast. One of our have breakfast choices, granola with yogourt and fresh fruit, just got even tastier. Montreal-based La Fourmi Bionique are the "producers of granola with distinctive personality". They bake granola using local organic oats and then add orange petals, elderberries, currants, and other delicious botanics. And with names for their mixes such as Euphoric (granola with crunchy hazlenut praline, milk chocolate and natural marshmallow), Divine (granola with macadamia nuts, white chocolate pieces, and black elderberries), how could you possibly resist giving them a try? Our fave, the Aphrodisiac mix, has granola roasted with golden Quebec honey mixed with dark chocolate, roasted almonds, currants, and Siberian ginseng. The company also produces granola bars and fruit and medley mixes, so there's sure to be a granola snack to please everyone's tastebuds.

$5.50 (300g) and $12.50 (925g)

Order in bulk from lafourmibionique.com/shop or visit the site's store locator to find your nearest retailer

Game On

Sometimes, there's no better way to de-stress than to get together with friends for a game night. One of our favourite board games is R& R Games' Ticked OFF! This fun game lets you show off your smarts on ordinary and easy topics such as "things people paint". Sounds simple enough, right?  But hang on a minute! A mystery category is thrown in where everyone has to write down as many items from either category before time runs out. Play until you've either ticked off all of your friends with your vast knowledge of all things trivial, or you've won the game, upon which you can then tick off your gaming accomplishments.

$24.95 USD at rnrgames.com

Pouch with Personality

Though we live in an age of tech gadgets, kids will always have a need for pencil cases. Send them back to school this season with this fun ZipIt Monster Pouch, a cool-looking case that has eyes and teeth. Made of one long zipper and with a zany look, it's guaranteed to be a hit with the grade school crowd, and maybe high school kids, too.

$9.95 at chapters.indigo.ca

Nature Lover

Brighten up your child's room with a whimsical nature scene using the adorable Skip Hop Treetop Friends Wall Decals. The easy-to-apply vinyl decals (88 in total) can be arranged to create a full tree design (as pictured here), or use the branches, leaves and woodland friends to accent different parts of the room. Best of all, they don't leave a sticky residue so you can peel them on and off and reposition them as often as you'd like.

$20 at chapters.indigo.ca

Good as Gold

From the makers of the ice cream bars with the signature crack when you bite into it comes a brand new flavour — Magnum Gold?!. The luxuriously sweet treat is made with silky vanilla bean ice cream with a sea salt caramel swirl and dipped in a golden coating made with Belgian milk chocolate. Also available in a mini size for those who want to indulge, but in a smaller serving. We dare say it, the newest ice cream bar from Magnum is as good as gold. 

If you are in Toronto, be sure to visit the Magnum Pleasure Store (11 Bloor Street West, open Mondays to Saturdays from noon to 10:00pm and Sundays from 11:00am to 6:00pm) where you can create your very own custom ice cream bar just like celebs Toronto Maple Leafs player Joffrey Lupul, Chef Mark McEwan, and actor Joe Manganiello. Hurry though — the store is only open until August 30th!

Joffrey Lupul, left winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs, stopped by the Magnum Pleasure Store to make his own custom ice cream bar and meet fans on July 25, 2013.

$6.99 (package of 3) at major grocery stores

Travel Bliss

Travelling for business is an experience that we try to make as comfortable as possible for ourselves. Whether on a plane or taking a train, we don't leave home without three Bucky travel essentials—the Compact Neck Pillow, Comfort Slippers, and 40 Blinks Sleep Mask. Available in a variety of colours and pretty patterns (we're partial to the lacy leaf design shown here), not only will you be travelling in comfort but in style, too.

Compact Neck Pillow ($19.95), Comfort Slippers with Travel Case ($24.95), 40 Blinks Sleep Mask ($12.95)
All prices in USD and all items sold separately at bucky.com

Canadian Caffeine

There's nothing like a caffeine jolt to get our Monday started. As Starbucks fans, we are loving the coffee company's new True North Blend, a mellow and soft blonde roast coffee. Formerly known as the Veranda Blend, the blonde roast coffee has recently been given a new name in honour of coffee-drinkers all across our beautiful country. The blend of Latin American beans has delicate nuances of soft cocoa and lightly toasted nuts—it's so smooth tasting that we're sure Canucks from coast to coast are sipping it up with delight from coast to coast.

$15.95 (1 lb) at starbucksstore.ca or at your local Starbucks

Eye Candy

We love enhancing our eyes with liners and eyeshadows, but we're not particularly pleased when there's residual make-up left around our pupils after we think we've removed it all. Enter MAKE UP FOR EVER SENS'EYES Waterproof Sensitive Eye Cleanser, our new fave for soothing, optimal eye makeup removal. The mineral oil-free gel is incredibly gentle, and leaving our eyelids feeling moisturized - even waterproof mascara is no match for this cleanser. Bonus: the lightweight cleanser is gentle enough to use for removing lipstick, too.

 $11 (30 ml), $28 (100 ml) at sephora.ca

Pretty as a Peacock

Happy Halloween! Are you getting into the spooky spirit? Because we are, and so are our kiddies. We scoured stores far and wide, online and in our neck of the woods, to find the perfect getup for our baby. We are positively in love with the Pottery Barn Kids Baby Peacock Costume, which has layers of coloured felt and shimmering tulle. Made of micro-fleece and lined with poly cotton, our little peacock will stay warm and cozy as she trick-or-treats from door to door. Bonus for mom: the body suit has a Velcro closure — very helpful when you're struggling to put on and take off the costume from a squirmy toddler. And really, when you have a little one, any day is a dress-up day, so the costume will most certainly be re-used often for make-believe and playtime.

Check out more of the Pottery Barn Kids Halloween Costume Collection in this cute video:

Visit the official Pottery Barn Kids site to view the entire collection - it's never too early to start thinking about next year's Halloween. 

Supernaturally Sexy

Halloween's just around the corner — time to get into the supernatural spirit! We're loving the OPI So So Skullicious Mini Lacquer Set that's made up of four mini lacquers in bold shades. The vivid colours included in the pack are "Hi, Pumpkin!" (jack-o-lantern orange), "A-Rose from the Dead" (hot pink), "Mourning Glory" (black), and "Candlelight" (bright yellow). The set also comes with skull decals to help make our nails look extra spooky. Now we just have to find a costume that's going to look as delightfully frightful as our manicure!

$14.95 at professional salons and spas

CCG Giveaway Alert!*

Want to give your hands a spooky manicure this Halloween? Here's your chance to win one of two OPI So So Skullicious Mini Lacquer Sets!

Read more »

Getting Bookish with Baby

Call it the ambitious CCG mom in us, but boy, do we ever enjoy story time with our little one—the quality family time is just what we need to unwind from a work day, plus we're a big believer in helping our child to develop a love for reading at a very early age. One of our very children's books is Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, Illustrated by Marla Frazee (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). The large size format (it's 10.75" by 9.25") of this board book makes it extra easy for baby's small fingers to flip the pages. Your little one will revel in excitement over each page, depicting all the wonderful things that babies do (play, sleep, eat, make noise, etc.). You'll find that you can't help but have fun reading the clever, rhyming text to your little and, after many readings of this book, she's sure to imitate the sing-song tone. We're positive this will be a much-loved addition to the baby library collection.

$8.95 at chapters.indigo.ca

Delectable Investment

Here's a treat that's a must-have for the emergency snack stash at work - OMG's are mouthwatering clusters of chocolate and graham wafers mixed with diced almonds and crunchy toffee bits. Available in both milk and dark chocolate, these candies are the brainchild of the same guys who brought us Clodhoppers and they were even featured on reality show Dragon's Den. The outcome on the show? They successfully secured an investment and, OMG, are we glad they did.

$4.99 (135g) at Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws, Atlantic Superstores, Zehrs and Fortinos

"Tuff" Case to Crack

When we're working, we take our MacBook everywhere - to the office, cafés, the library, pretty much anywhere that we can get some typing done. And with carting it from place to place, we like to ensure our precious laptop's got a sturdy shield to protect it from potential nicks, bumps, and scrapes. Our top choice? UK-based Tuff-Luv's Slim-Line Leather Case Cover for Apple MacBook Pro 2011. The lightweight, stylish, faux leather case has a magnetic closure flap to keep the case firmly closed, as well as clips to the open lid while we're working (no need to remove the case when it's in use - awesome!). Six SD card slots and a business card holder on the inside of the flap also helps to keep us organized. This gorgeous cover for one of our most prized possessions is worth every cent.

$135.99 (for 13" screen) $143.99 (for 15" screen) at Amazon.ca

Visit the official Tuff-Luv website for other great accessories for your digital toys

Fairest of them All

Oh, how we love our coffee in the morning! We've found a fabulous new favourite in 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters, the Vancouver-based company that produces custom roasted coffee beans. Our current favourites include Guatemala La Bolsa Ventana Grande, El Salvador El Naranjo, and Organic French Roast.

What's more, we love hearing the story behind the green coffee. Owners and master roasters, Michael and Vince Piccolo, travel to coffee farms around the globe to meet with and develop ethical business relationships with the farmers who provide the beans for roasting. With the Piccolo brothers personally sourcing coffee beans from Africa, the Americas, as well as Central America and South Pacific, we can positively attest that every cup tastes like the freshest, highest quality coffee we've ever drank—now that's what we call a great way to kickstart the work day.

Starting at $14 (12 oz) at 49thparallelroasters.com

Pineapple Lover's Dream

We love serving (and eating!) fresh fruit in the summer and one of our all-time faves is pineapple. But oh, how we dislike the nuisance of cutting this fanciful fruit. Not anymore! We got ourselves the very handy Vacu Vin Pineapple Slicer & Wedger which peels, cores and slices a fresh pineapple in seconds. Working like a corkscrew, this easy-to-use manual gadget removes the flesh in perfectly formed rings. The separate wedger part can be used to cut the pineapple rings into uniform-looking pieces. And for us "it's all about the presentation" type hostesses, the intact shell is perfect for serving a desert or fruit salad with flair. Trust us, you won't want to cut a pineapple any other way once you get this!

Watch how the Pineapple Slicer & Wedger works here

$9.99 at kitchenstuffplus.com