Chatelaine

Join me each week to track the progress (or lack of progress) as my husband and I take on a major house renovation. Ten weeks before we're out of our current house. The contractor says it's a six month job. Are we going to make it? Week 1- we get the house.

How much alcohol is too much if you’re planning to drive? One US study (via Time.com) has come up with a surprising answer, and it’s one that defies current ideas about what legally considered a safe blood alcohol level (BAC).

The Do diet: Some foods are proven to enhance memory, increase mental sharpness and even help ward off Alzheimer's.

I was instantly taken back to my old high school cafeteria, where I remember indulging in comfort foods - pints of Haagen-Daaz cookies and cream ice cream and mashed potatoes. I clearly had a thing for creamy stuff.

It's no secret that the images of models and celebrities that we see in magazines are heavily altered on computer programs like Photoshop before they make it to the newsstands. A few recent incidents have shown just how extreme the digital reworking has gotten: Ralph Lauren had to apologise after running an ad with an alarmingly thin model, and the blog Jezebel criticised Self magazine for their heavy-handed retouching of singer Faith Hill. But does all this reworking of women's bodies have serious health consequences?

What’s in a baby name? Aside from it being a reflection of parents’ hopes, aspirations, family loyalties, and kooky teenage dreams, a baby’s name also acts as a kind of time capsule, revealing the tastes and preoccupations of a culture at any given point.

With all of the rain and gloom of late, as I sit at my desk staring out the window and longing to break out my tube tops and flip flops and hit the park, I've been thinking about how to raise my spirits. I've tried a number of things to compensate for the grey clouds — re-watching my favourite movies, tackling ambitious recipes (for my personal culinary skill set) and going to the gym - with mixed results.

I’m not exactly in Chatelaine's target market, but I’ve signed up for their emails and follow them on Facebook (you should too) to keep apprised of what’s new. And of course, when I saw a post called "The Politics of Waxing ‘Down There’", I had to read it.

Whether you're going to a glamourous event or a night out with the gals, look fabulous from your 20s into your 50s and beyond with these style ideas

Sugar snap peas are a great source of fibre and make a fast, delicious snack. Our recipe for sesame snap-pea stir fry is quick and easy to prepare.

We’ve touched on the fact here a few times now that money doesn’t buy you happiness. So what does? Choice, as it turns out. The freedom to choose is key in being a happy person, discovered Dr. Ronald Fischer, a senior lecturer with the Victoria University of Wellington’s school of psychology, in a review study. In the study, the New Zealand psychologist reviewed happiness-related data from 420,599 people from 63 countries. I asked Fischer a little bit more about why choice is so important.

10-minute project: People often ask me where I get my ideas for DIY, and I can truly say they come to me like a bolt of lightening. Like the idea for this project. Assistant home editor, Julia Black, and I were standing in the Chatelaine test kitchen the other day dying doilies with beet juice (stay tuned for our September issue for more on that!) when I looked up at the clock that hangs in the kitchen and said to her: