A remembrance tribute placed at the foot of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France ahead of this month’s centennial commemorations of the Armistice that ended the First World War. (Photo: Stephen Smith)

Finger-picking the sticky congealed remains off the top of the plastic glue lid sounds like no fun, but come on: it’s relatively clean and easy, satisfies some obsessive-compulsive instincts, and gives us all some smoooooooooth streaming for the rest of crafts day. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Check out my Youtube channel —

The post #646 Peeling all the dried-up glue off the lid so it looks all fresh appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 9 mins

These Overnight Cinnamon Buns are a perfect and delicious treat to enjoy first thing in the morning.  They’re especially perfect for Christmas morning while opening up gifts!  Put some coffee on, and enjoy! Our Christmas is not complete without homemade cinnamon buns on Christmas morning. When the lights go out on Christmas Eve, these buns are rising on my counter, and first thing in the morning, I pop them into the oven. Then they’re ready to eat while we open our presents.  Best ever! I have been making these cinnamon buns for Christmas for as long as I can remember, […]

The post Overnight Cinnamon Buns appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.

[I was reminded of this piece, first published in 2015, by someone on Twitter, and given the volume of the diet wars these days, thought I’d reshare. Still holds up pretty well I think!]

In no particular order:

• Avoid trans fats.
• Substitute unsaturated fats for saturated if you can.
• Cook from fresh whole ingredients.
• Minimize restaurant and ultra-processed foods.
• Cultivate friendships.
• Don’t smoke.
• Nurture sleep.
• Drink alcohol at most moderately.
• Exercise as often as you can enjoy
• Only drink those calories that you love

Comparatively, everything else is minutia.

        

I’m the Robin Hood of batteries. Since I am an extremely cheap person I always rob from the rich, battery-filled remotes on my couch and give to the poor new gadgets laying on my counter. I stumble around Sherwood Living Room, clicking open plastic battery doors, hunting for dependable double-As to get the job done. […]

The post #647 When the batteries are included appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 27 mins

Sure, there may be a few tense minutes while the little rascal gets trapped between the sliding doors, but if you’re patient he’ll eventually find his way outside and you can rest feeling a little less murderery. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Check out my Youtube channel —

The post #648 Getting a fly to fly outside so you don’t have to kill it appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 3 mins

Julia Belluz, in Vox, with the best coverage of that new low-carb diet study that has everyone talking.

John Mandrola, in Medscape, reflects on conflicts of interest in medicine

Jason Cherkis, in Highline, on, “the best way to save people from suicide“

[And finally huge thanks to those who’ve already donated to my Movember fundraising efforts. Thanks to your generosity, I’m just a $211 shy of my $4,500 goal! If you find this blog valuable, if you enjoy these weekend shares, a tax-deductible donation would be very welcome, all you need to do is click here]

       

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Forget picnic tables, plastic chairs, and patio sets. No, we’re talking about the real deal. We’re talking about moving furniture from inside your pad to outside of it, and busting the shackles of climate control in favor of fresh air and a rocking good time. Feel these beats: 1. Porch Couch. Sure, your worn out […]

The post #649 Taking indoor furniture outdoors appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 7 mins

To help you with gift giving this holiday season, I’m sharing some of my favourite Cozy Gift Ideas for the women in your life! Every year I like to put together gift guides as a way to give ideas and inspiration to you for your holiday shopping.  It can be tough to find the right gifts for the people in our lives, so if I can help you out in any way, I will.  So this year I’ve put together a list of cozy gift ideas for the women in your life…moms, sisters, wives and friends…I hope you find some […]

The post Cozy Gift Ideas for Her appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.

First-ever discovery of a crater under an ice sheet

Coral reef islands may rise up against climate change

How moths use stealth jet technology to sneak past bats

Rainforest people have evolved to be small because jungle walking is hard

Walking on water and climbing up walls – how animals do it

The position of the pole star has shifted as the Earth’s axis moved.

Une subvention du PFSN a aidé Ann Balasubramaniam à se rendre dans le nord du Yukon en 2008, alors qu’elle était étudiante au doctorat, pour mener des recherches sur les écosystèmes d’eau douce en collaboration avec la Première Nation Vuntut Gwitchin. Balasubramaniam, qu’on voit ici prélever des échantillons d’eau du lac Mary Netro avec Devon Kyikavichik, travaille aujourd’hui pour Savoir Polaire Canada à Cambridge Bay, au Nunavut. (Photo : Ann Balasubramaniam)

Il y a maintenant près de 60 ans, un programme fédéral peu connu a commencé à offrir aux étudiants des universités canadiennes une rare occasion de voyager dans l’Arctique ou la région subarctique afin d’acquérir une expérience pratique en recherche et une compréhension d’une partie du pays que la plupart d’entre nous ne verrons jamais. En plus de changer la vie de milliers d’étudiants, le programme a contribué à faire du Canada une puissance de la recherche nordique.

An NSTP grant helped Ann Balasubramaniam go to northern Yukon in 2008, when she was a doctoral student, to collaborate on freshwater ecosystem research with the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. Balasubramaniam, shown taking water samples on Mary Netro …

Read time: 4 mins

Full boxes of granola bars, fresh mix tapes, and the heady thrill of anticipation get your body ready for a nice long ride. AWESOME!     Photo from: here — Want to read more? Check out my podcast 3 Books or join my book club! —

The post #650 The first few hours of the road trip appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

When it comes to climate change, what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. (Photo: Andrew Lovesey/Canadian Geographic)

When other regions of Canada and world are struck with major environmental and natural disasters, communities, fir…

St. Symphorien Cemetery, east of Mons, was established by the German Army in 1914 after the opening salvoes of the First World War. Private John Parr, the first British soldier to be killed on the Western Front, is buried here. So too is Private George Price, from Falmouth, Nova Scotia, who’s recognized as the last soldier of the British Empire to die in the First World War — at 10:58 on the morning of November 11, 1918. St. Symphorien contains the graves of 284 German soldiers along with 227 British, and two Canadians. (Photo: Stephen Smith)

Read time: 3 mins

Faces float and fly through our brains. Kicking pebbles, wearing backpacks, laughing about the school day, your friends flicker past you with red cheeks and windswept hair on cool and crisp walks home. Silverware clinking, gravy boats dripping, your family sits in thick holiday sweaters under a sparkly chandelier amongst half-filled wine glasses and steamy […]

The post #651 When your phone rings and it’s someone you were just thinking about appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 10 mins

This Holiday Baking Music Playlist provides over 2 hours of music with 40+ holiday songs.  Enough time to press play and get those Christmas cookies made and into the oven! When I’m baking during the holiday season, I absolutely need to have Christmas music playing. I love to sing and swing around the kitchen while I’m mixing batters and doughs…why not?  It’s the merriest time of year and I embrace it with all I have!  So I’ve put together a fun collection of songs, ranging from old favourites to some fantastic new ones (hello Ingrid Michaelson!!).  Press play and let’s […]

The post Holiday Baking Music Playlist appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.

Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announces a $1 million investment in environmental response equipment in Victoria in September 2018. (Photo: Office of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans)

No shortage of action: that sums up the first few months of federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Jonathan Wilkinson’s tenure in the portfolio.

Dusty sunbeams streak through the window while you lay on the couch in a blissful half-asleep cocoon. Sometimes during this hazy daze a little voice in your brain politely asks that the TV be turned down or shut right off. In moments like this there’s something satisfying about keeping as much of your body completely […]

The post #652 Using any long and thin item you can reach to grab the remote control so you don’t actually have to get up appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Read time: 4 mins

This Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy is an easy no-bake treat that’s perfect for the holiday season.  Great as a homemade gift! These Gumdrop Nougat Candies taste like nostalgia and Christmas’ past.  And I love them.  They’re sweet, soft, chewy and so delicious.  And very easy to make.  Create a batch and share them with friends, give them as gifts, and make sure to have them on your holiday treat plate! Who knew that marshmallows + white chocolate chips = a chewy and delicious nougat?!  And with festive red and green gumdrops, this is a perfect Christmas treat. I love that […]

The post Easy Christmas Gumdrop Nougat Candy appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.

Haircuts are stressful. Come on, there are at least 3 Major Worries when you go get your lid trimmed: 1. Disappearing Choppers. Have you ever gone to your regular place and found your go-to person suddenly missing? Brother, that’s a bombshell. Plus, the gang left over can be pretty tight-lipped on details, too. No forwarding […]

The post #653 Scoring a compliment on your new haircut appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

I caught this video a week or so ago.

It features one of the world’s most prominent sports nutrition scientists, Asker Jeukendrup, answering the question,

“What is the shortest duration of exercise where eating or drinking is worthwhile?”

The answer?

It was refreshing to hear (see what I did there), especially given Dr. Jeukendrup’s prior role as the Global Senior Director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI), that if your workout is less than 45 minutes (and by exercise he clarifies, “all out exercise, not easy running”) you need nothing. And if it’s 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes, a “mouth rinse” will do.

Wish that were printed in bold on the sides of Gatorade bottles, or that their bottles were mouth-rinsed sized!

And of course this all reminded me of that time back in 2012 when I tried to create my own homemade version of Powerade after the then Senior Vice President of Coca-Cola’s sparkling beverages division told the media that after her son’s lacrosse practices, she took him to McDonald’s for a 32oz of the stuff. Watching it I also had to wonder, “Did I even lift?” (not as much back then, no)

       

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Welcome to the world, remote control. We’re happy to have you with us, laptop monitor. You’re free, cellphone. AWESOME! Photo from: here — Follow me on Instagram —

The post #654 Peeling that thin plastic film off anything appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

With just a few simple and inexpensive supplies, it’s easy to make your own Christmas Grapevine Evergreen Wreath!  This is a gorgeous holiday statement for your door! Last week I made my annual trek to Jasper with my Mom for Christmas in November…my favourite event of the year.  This magical event kicks off the Christmas season for me and gets me inspired to MAKE ALL THE THINGS for the holidays, both food and crafts.  And this year, I left mega-inspired and ready to create.  First up, a wreath.  A gigantic, festive and gorgeous wreath. I got home on Thursday night […]

The post Christmas Grapevine Evergreen Wreath appeared first on A Pretty Life In The Suburbs.

A placid view of the fields outlying Walter Allward’s magnificent Vimy Memorial, but this, too, is true: this land and much more here is fenced off from human tread, due to the lingering dangers of undetonated explosives. (Photo: Stephen Smith)

Plop down on those fat plushy seats, take a long drag of ice-cold cola, and let your eyes adjust to the big flickering screen. Slideshow guessing games and car commercials are long gone and now only the good stuff awaits. Time to get into it, get comfortable, and get your brain ready for a couple […]

The post #655 Getting to your movie seat just as the previews are starting appeared first on 1000 Awesome Things.

Dana Horn, in the Smithsonian Magazine, with an important read on Anne Frank and what might have been had she not been murdered.

David Wolpe, in The New York Times, about a here you’ve likely never heard of, Chiune Sugihara

Maryn McKenna, in Wired, with more on the post-antibiotic era.

[And finally huge thanks to those who’ve already donated to my Movember fundraising efforts. Thanks to your generosity, I’m more than 2/3rds of the way to my $4,500 goal. If you find this blog valuable, if you enjoy these weekend shares, a tax-deductible donation would be very welcome, all you need to do is click here]

       

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