Santa’s Festival of Giving at EMTC
Gingerbread House Give
Sunday December 5 at 10am

Santa needs your help to give back this holiday season at Santa’s Festival of Giving at Erin Mills Town Centre. Do your kids love cookies and candy? On Sunday, December 5 let them show their artistic and culinary skills by decorating their own gingerbread house with lots and lots of icing, candy and chocolate.

Then take your cookie creation home for the holidays. The Gingerbread House Give is fun for the whole family!

Cost is $15 per house and limitless candy to decorate with! Proceeds will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, who build real houses for people who need one.

Contact Guest Services by email at emcguestservices@cadillacfairview.com or phone 905-569-1981 to register. Or visit www.erinmills.ca for more information.

** Images courtesy of Habitat for Humanity Toronto's Gingerbread House Build

Volunteers of Trillium Health
Centre Gingerbread Cookie Factory
Returns to Sherway Gardens Nov 26 – Dec 19

A popular holiday tradition, the Volunteers of Trillium Health Centre’s 19th Annual Gingerbread Cookie Factory, returns to Sherway Gardens from November 26 to December 19. The Gingerbread Cookie Factory is open Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m and is located at the north end of Sherway Square near GapKids. Cookies are $4 each or three for $10. All proceeds support Trillium Health Centre.

Over the past 19 years, local families have shown their support of the Trillium Health Centre by using their creative and innovative ideas to decorate and personalize their cookies. Many volunteers and staff look forward to giving their time and volunteering at this festive fundraiser.

TIPS FOR DECORATING A GINGERBREAD COOKIE:
Making gingerbread is a fun family activity during the holiday season. All you need to get started are some gingerbread people cookie cutters and some imagination. Take one gingerbread cookie, add any amount of icing and top with candies, gumdrops and chocolates. ENJOY!

TRADITIONAL GINGERBREAD COOKIE RECIPE:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1 egg
1/2 c. light molasses
2 1/4 c. flour
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. all spice

Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and molasses; blend. Mix in dry ingredients. Chill dough for 1 hour. Roll out dough to 1/8 in. thickness. Cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit degrees for 8 to 9 minutes.

For additional information call 416-621-1070 or visit www.sherwaygardens.ca.

The 5th Annual Santa Cruise
at Winterfest on Toronto’s Waterfront
Saturday, December 4, 11 and 18

Santa will be making a special stop at Winterfest on Toronto’s Waterfront again this holiday season for the 5th Annual Santa Cruise presented by Mariposa Cruises, Queen’s Quay Terminal, Redpath Sugar and The Waterfront BIA on Saturday, December 4, 11 and 18 aboard the Northern Spirit.

Families are invited to join Santa and his elves for this magical harbour cruise featuring music, entertainment and refreshments. Children are encouraged to bring their wish lists to share with Santa and have their picture taken with him! Afterwards, they can download their FREE photo with Santa compliments of Redpath Sugar by visiting www.waterfrontbia.com.

Following the 5th Annual Santa Cruise, Santa’s elves will lead the families into Queen’s Quay Terminal for FREE crafts, live entertainment, face painting and giveaways for good girls and boys.

Conveniently located at the foot of York Street, boarding begins at 10:30am, followed by a harbour cruise from 11am until noon. Tickets are $10 + HST per person (children under 6 are admitted FREE).

Tickets sell out quickly for this magical cruise, purchase tickets online at www.mariposacruises.com or call 416-203-0178.

Santa’s Festival of Giving
EMTC - GIVE GREEN
Sunday November 28 at 10am

Santa needs your help to give back this holiday season at Santa’s Festival of Giving at Erin Mills Town Centre. Join Santa and his crew of elves for Give Green on Sunday, November 28 from 10am-1pm.

Show your crafty side and create green holiday decorations with Santa’s elves. Make tree ornaments and holiday garlands from natural and recycled materials to deck the halls of the Heart House Hospice and brighten the season for the seniors who live there.

COST: This event is a Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) donation to Heart House Hospice and is perfect for kids aged 3 and up!

For more information, email at emcguestservices@cadillacfairview.com, phone 905-569-1981 or visit www.erinmills.ca.

SPREAD HOLIDAY JOY TO
LESS FORTUNATE CHILDREN BY
DONATING TO TOY MOUNTAIN!
Sherway Gardens Until Dec 23

Help less fortunate children this holiday season by donating a new, unwrapped toy to one of the two special CTV Toy Mountain bins at Sherway Gardens until December 23 at 6pm. The bins are located in Sherway Square opposite Le Chateau and next to the Guest Services Booth.



It’s so easy to make the holidays a bit happier for a child – please be generous and donate early to the CTV Toy Mountain! The Salvation Army will deliver these toys to needy children in our community in time for Christmas.

Call 416-621-1070 for more information or visit www.sherwaygardens.ca.

SECRET HOSIERY
GLOBE AND MAIL
SATURDAY, NOV 6, 2010

AIRPLUS SPA FOOTIE
in 24 HOURS
Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa & Vancouver

20 questions with Laura M. Stein

By Natalie Bahadur

Toronto-based designer Laura M. Stein talks about design inspiration, favourite colours and the ideal way to spend a lazy Sunday morning.

1 If you could shadow any designer for a day, who would it be? It would require a bit of time travel, but I would love to spend a day with Dorothy Draper. She was a remarkable woman. In 1923 she started her own business. Not only was this something unheard of for women at the time, she also started a type of business that was unheard of. Dorothy Draper was a pioneer in the burgeoning world of interior decor and started the first interior design firm in the United States. Her bold, grandiose style, over-sized architectural elements, wild colours and striking prints quickly earned her the reputation of country’s quintessential interior decorator and transformed the entire country’s way of looking at its interior spaces. Talk about a role model!

2 Where do you look for an obscure source of inspiration? I rarely have to go out looking for inspiration. It seems to find me everywhere. All I have to do is walk down the street and something jumps out at me. It could be an outfit in a store window, the colour of someone’s purse, the architectural detail of a building, even a child’s toy. I once bought a beautiful handmade stuffed doll for my niece. I loved the muted green colour so much that I found a matching paint colour and recommended it to one of my clients for her living room.

3 Favourite restaurant?
My favourite go-to place for a good, inexpensive meal in Toronto is Fresh. But, my new favourite restaurant has to be A Tavola in Sydney, Australia. They only use the freshest ingredients and the menu changes daily. According to the critics, you won’t get better pasta anywhere in the world, including Italy!

4 What’s your favourite room to decorate? I love decorating living rooms. My favourite part of my job is working with fabrics, and living rooms give me the best opportunity to play with all sorts of patterns, colours and textures. Living rooms are usually the showpieces of a house, so they are a great place to get creative and really express the client’s personality.

5 What’s your current paint colour obsession? I’m usually a Benjamin Moore girl, but Para has just launched a new line of colours that are simply stunning. They have a deep, rich indigo called Trinidad & Tobago that I’m dying to use and a mid-tone grey called Sublime (no further explanation required). Both would look stunning with crisp white and warm woods...

Read the full article at StyleatHome.com!

Gallery in the Garden:
Afternoon Shadows
Paintings by Darlene Kulig and Rita-Anne Piquet
Sherway Gardens until November 27, 2010

Capturing the essence of positive energy from the world, Sherway Gardens’ current Gallery in the Garden exhibit entitled Afternoon Shadows features paintings by artists Darlene Kulig and Rita-Anne Piquet. These works celebrate the spirit of nature and the beauty of our day-to-day world in colour, light, line and texture and are on display until November 27.

Etobicoke artist Darlene Kulig was one of six Canadian Students awarded the CSEA/Berol Prismacolour National Art Scholarship in 1979 based on outstanding potential in visual arts. Within four years of graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design, she was running her own successful graphic design studio. Currently, Darlene is focusing her creative efforts on her painting and in 2008 her work was accepted into the prestigious John B. Aird Drawing Competition for professional artists.

Born in Toronto, Rita-Anne Piquet studied at the Art Academy of Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum, George Brown College and Three Schools of Art, as well as Ballynakil Studios in Ireland. Floral motifs are the primary subject of Rita-Anne’s current body of work. The overriding theme of her painting is a contemplative study of the world and as a result she chooses to portray subjects which speak of stillness, serenity and frequently, solitude. Rita-Anne has exhibited widely in Ontario in group and solo exhibitions, showing most recently in “Fragile Beauty” at Ristorante Julia, Oakville.

Sherway Gardens’ Gallery in the Garden was established to showcase local artists. The Gallery in the Garden operates all year round and each exhibit is on display for approximately 6 weeks. The Gallery in the Garden is located at Sherway Gardens’ door 3 entrance.

For more information call 416-621-1070 or visit www.sherwaygardens.ca.

Welcome Aboard this Holiday Season!
Mariposa’s Holiday Dinner Cruises
November 13, 20, 27

Whether celebrating the holidays with family, friends or colleagues, Mariposa Cruises will be sure to offer their guests an experience to remember with an exciting Holiday Dinner Cruise on November 13, 20, 27 beginning at 7:00pm.

Plan to shake it up this year with a four hour cruise aboard a beautifully decorated vessel and enjoy the Winter Wonderland buffet dinner, professional DJ and breathtaking views of the city skyline aboard the Captain Matthew Flinders or Northern Spirit.

Boarding begins at 7:00pm and the ship sets sail at 7:30pm until 11:30pm. Prices per person are $72.95 + taxes & HSC pp.

The menu includes:
• Bakery fresh Bread & Dinner rolls
• Mixed Field Greens Salad
• Shrimp and Scallops white wine tomato sauce
• Carving of Roast Turkey with stuffing
• Carving of Roast Beef
• Penne Pesto Pasta
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Glazed Winter root vegetables
• Fresh Fruit in Season
• Traditional Tortes, Holiday Treats & Holiday Cookies
• Regular, Decaffeinated Coffee and Herbal Teas

For more information visit www.mariposacruises.com or call 416-203-0178.