Helping Domestic Abuse Victims, By Helping Their Animals. Realizing that the link between animal abuse and domestic violence abuse is deep and complex organizations like SAAV - Sheltering animals of abuse victims are stepping in to help. Safe People, Safe Pets in Massachusetts provides information and resources to develop understanding of the way animal and human violence intersects. 

Apart from a few onging studies I was unable to find any specific prgrams in Canada; if anyone knows of any or would like to add to the US links email me - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  and I will add them to this post. As the family pet plays such an important role in today's average household so too are they among the victims when the anger and fighting starts.    Jill

Move over roses Flowering Oregano is the way to today's womans heart.

Chapters has a sensuous array of gift suggestions 

If a few thoughtful words on a card are more to your liking the enviro-friendly Jonesy has some pretty heart strings cards

Apparently cupcakes are becoming passé and are being replaced by the macaron. These rounds of airy almond meringue with a creamy filling were first whipped up by Ladurée in Paris some 80 years ago and with their shops opening in numerous corners of the world the macaron has become the in vogue sweet treat.   

Grab a coffee, your favorite baked goodie and take some time to visit Ladurée's charming website

If you want to order some macarons to be delivered to your home check out MadMac

Happy New Year!  And what better way to start then with a dose of Tangerine Tango, the Pantone Institute 2012 Colour of the Year.

5 books you may have missed

Jane Austen's characters involved in a murder mystery Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James 

It Chooses You by Miranda July is a collection of interviews, personal narrative & photos revolving around people she met who were selling items in the PennySaver classified magazine.

A dog book that is so much more Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean

For the woman who loves meat & hunting it's the perfect choice, Girl Hunter by Georgia Pellegrini

Everything you could possibly want to know about olive oil is in Extra Virginity by Tom Mueller

Reprinted by permission of Natalie MacLean - sommelier, speaker and author. 

If you're heading out to do some wine shopping today, you might find these 3 quick tips helpful to spot the wines that taste twice as expensive as they cost: 

1.Look for wines from warm regions, like Argentina and Chile. Often the cost of production is cheaper because winemakers aren’t battling disease, rot and weather as much as cool climate producers do. Therefore, there’s less crop loss and lower costs for production. 

2.Seek labels that have illegible gothic script and impossibly long names that are difficult to pronounce in the liquor store (or anywhere else). Few people can read them, so they don't buy the wines and demand doesn't push up prices. Think German Riesling. 

3.Try grapes that aren't well-known such as Portugal's tinta roriz and tinta barroca. They make great wine but don’t have the “brand awareness” and cachet of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay. Therefore, producers must compete more aggressively on price. 

These insider tips come from my book Unquenchable (www.nataliemaclean.com/book). At the end of each chapter, I include several of these savvy shopping tips for the wine region that we visit, the best wine labels to buy, food matches, online resources and books to read. 

I've just posted new reviews of the wines mentioned above as well as those from other regions for your shopping list: http://bit.ly/WeekendWines

Cheers, Natalie

PS You might also enjoy this CTV interview with more tips: 

http://bit.ly/CTVwinetips

With coffee prices going up we want to store those precious coffee beans properly. So I asked coffee expert Mariano Ospina, President Ospina Coffee Company for his advice:

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Roasted coffee beans are the seeds of the fruit (cherry) of the coffee tree.

In the case of Ospina Coffee, these cherries have been harvested or handpicked at their peak of their ripening. These cherries are then washed, depulped or peeled, fermented, washed again and then sundried. At this stage they are in their parchment form. In this parchment form they look like pistachio nuts in their shells.

Once they are sundried, they are taken to the curing mill where the parchment or shell is removed by hulling. The outcome of this process is the coffee green beans. They will then go through a screening process for quality control, classification and storing. Eventually these green beans will be roasted and, that is how most consumers get to know coffee beans.

Coffee beans, and specially roasted beans, are very delicate and sensitive to environmental conditions and elements. There are three main elements that will corrupt the quality of the beans: air, humidity and sunlight (ultraviolet rays).

Thus, to properly store roasted coffee beans, one must keep them away from these three elements. The best way to do so is by keeping the beans: 1) in an airtight container, such as a porcelain canister, glass jar or ziplock plastic bag; 2) in a dry and cool place; and 3) away from sunlight. The best place to store your roasted coffee beans will be the pantry.

Never store your coffee beans in the refrigerator, and never never in the freezer. This will suck out all humidity and dehydrate and corrupt the beans. Roasted beans should have at least 7% humidity.

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This holiday season purchase some Ospina Coffee for yourself or a gift set for a friend or business colleague. Visit Ospina Coffee Products

Did you know that starting on December 3 Christie's is selling 950 pieces of Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry online?  

Here is the list from The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor

Some women who are on the other side of their cancer battle

1. Kris Carr, New York Times best-selling author and wellness warrior

Crazy Sexy Cancer
Crazy Sexy Life

2. Living Beyond Breast Cancer

3. Barbara Delinsky's Uplift Notes

4. Geralyn Lucas' Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy

We are living in a time when we are re-defining our living space. Here are 3 interesting perspectives on our 21st century lifestyle.

1) Architect, Renzo Piano was asked 10 Questions by Time his answer to this one was interesting -  

How can we make an average home a better place to live? 
Reply - Throw away some of the furniture, paint everything white, clean the windows and see if you can make them wider. it's about luminosity.

luminosity definition - the relative quantity of light

2) Rightsizing is the new word for downsizing and has a more positive spin to it plus in the long run smaller living spaces hold a lot of advantages.
Living Your Dream by Dominique Browning

3) A new perspective on living arrangements after divorce
Latchkey Parents by Belinda Luscombe

Globes represent exploration, adventure and Kim Soerensen has a store full of them Omniterrum.  Read more about how she got to this place in her life in The Whole World in Her Hands.

Why is the health & medical community getting it wrong when it comes to breast cancer? 

Breast Cancer Screening: Not 'If' but 'Which' 

Thinking pink may impede breast cancer support

Harvard Business Review interview The color pink is bad for fighting breast cancer with researcher, Stefano Puntoni

daily notes takes a trip

Here are some items to help with your packing:  Luglife has some fun travel accessories but if you are looking for a little more elegance perhaps Roots for your Kobo and passport holders

Can't forget the makeup: Collective Wellbeing has a Carbon Balanced Travel Kit & Pre-filled portable swabs, 24 applicators from Japonesque

The always helpful Journeywoman has a myriad of articles on what clothes to pack for any destination.

Two websites with up-to-date information for your business travel.

Smart Women Travelers.com and The Woman Road Warrior 

Is your book club getting a bit boring? Spice things up by having members read a different book in Penquin's Great Food Series. How interesting the next meeting would be as each member discusses what they learnt from their book and maybe even contributes a related dish. With their stunning covers they also make a unique hostess gift or could be placed at each guest's table setting as a memento of your next dinner party.  

Lisa Peet offers some in depth information about the series. The books are available through Chapters for the reasonable price of $9.99 

A truly great meal can be as simple as serving fresh french bread and a selection of good cheese. Gwyneth Paltrow's latest newsletter is all about what it takes to make a really interesting Cheese Board. 

Finish with a cafe au lait and a couple of pieces of my new favorite discovery Dove's dark chocolate bar it is rich and decadent.  

If you like to create something unique in your home this is for you; Sid Dicken's decorative wall tiles. Spend some time on his website Sid Dickens Timeless Collectables . There is even an interactive page so you can visualize these beautiful tiles on your favorite wall. His work is handcrafted in Vancouver and enjoys an international celebrity following.

Here are some gift items for your favorite new mom.

Sophie the giraffe is sweeping the world as the new hands down best and safest teether;  

You can buy Sophie in (Canada) Chapters and (US) Amazon

Eco-baby will love the Stainless Steel Baby Bottles at organicKidz and for little Chef Ramsy, Mompreneur, Jennifer Broe has created the Baby Gourmet line of food.

I have just finished reading Sarah's Key and it seems like the perfect time to make a café au lait and read about life in Paris.  

This is a charming blog about all things Parisian - Paris Breakfast

Heather Stimmler-Hall shares The Secrets of Paris

An American in Paris, Lisa Taylor Huff's The Bold Soul

And we cannot leave without taking a look back at Paris Fashion Week 

Totes for shopping, exercise gear, travel and good leather ones for business; I love totes. I am working on having a collection of totes; so always on the lookout for interesting designs and colours; Bill Amberg's designs catch my eye.

Here are some other totes that are more down to earth in their prices:

Banana Republic has expanded their tote collection.

The Brimfield Tote is just one of the styles that J. Crew offers

Gwynth Paltrow's Goop is interesting, informative and shares some different worldviews that stimulate. I just wish she didn't write from a place of here I am bringing my world to the masses. Anyway some of the beauty products that she mentions in The French Pharmacy are available in North America ......for the common people.

Check out the American Cancer Society's More Birthdays compaign. They have some unique wrapping paper that will add a whole new dimension to your gift giving this year.

Apparantly some of my favorite magazines have been covering this site's products for awhile but somehow I missed it. So in case you haven't seen it either here are some of the imaginative products from Potting Shed Creations.

Are you at that point where your meals and decor are less than inspired? Why not try lamb for dinner? Here is an excellent website full of cooking tips and recipes - Alberta Lamb.

And while you probably wouldn't paint an entire room in this colour some touches of it would help cheer up the earth tones that we have been decorating with to date. The colour of the year is Honeysuckle.