My daughter is my first-born, and as with all mothers of firstborns, I didn't know any differently. I knew she was a hard baby, that was evident-- she was the type of baby to make a fool out of sleep training, a baby who learned to fake cough at 12 weeks for attention-- but I had no idea what I was up against until her emergence into toddlerhood coincided with the birth of my easygoing son. Not only did it strike me that not all babies are that exhausting, but I also came to understand what it meant to have not just a toddler, not just a hard toddler, but to be the parent of a strong-willed child.

[caption id="attachment_22762" align="alignleft" width="258"]blog pic Sidra[/caption] As we round the corner into another season I am hesitant to put away my white skinnies and favorite rompers. I lovingly wear each of my favorite summer pieces one last time and start to move the merchandise around for what's to come. The lure, however, of Fall's rich color tones and awesome looking boots is hard to ignore. Northern living.

[caption id="attachment_22720" align="alignleft" width="243"]unnamed-2 Helena Levitt[/caption] Helena Levitt is a Montreal actress who is currently rehearsing a play called Aftermath; a production that is produced and directed by The Waterworks Company founders Rob Langford and Tracy Houston. It is a one-woman show about the true story of feminist activist Andrea Dworkin.

In her own words, Andrea shares her story about being drugged and raped in her Paris hotel room. Given what is currently in the news with Bill Cosby, it is a very timely piece of theatre.

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I bid farewell to our night nurse (I’ll call her “Mrs. Doubtfire”) and I have been intermittently teary-eyed since. She had been with us since April and helped us tremendously with our now 5-month old daughter. Not only did she allow my husband and I to get 8 hours of sleep every couple of nights, but she also gave us something that new parents so desperately need: reassurance.

2015 is only half over and yet it has been a rather trying period for me (as was most of 2014), both personally and professionally. Although many people would actually not have a clue the extent to which my resilience has been tested, but it has been. It’s funny because I mastered the art of the “all is well” nod and smile that truthfully it would not be obvious to a sole. I don’t even know if those closest to me understand the depth of my trials and tribulations.

Hello lovelies! [caption id="attachment_22365" align="alignright" width="300"] Gondola ride in Venice![/caption] Sorry it’s been so long since my last post, I was away in Europe for a couple weeks! We had such an amazing time visiting places like Paris, Monte Carlo, Amalfi, and more!  I figured since it...

UnknownI have been known to be somewhat stubborn about accepting that sometimes as much as I want it to my body just can’t do certain things. If I am injured and it's keeping me out of the gym or on the sidelines of a game, it is very hard for me to do.

I grew up thinking that pushing through the pain was the way to overcome it.

When I was younger and depending on the injury sometimes it worked but sadly as I’ve gotten older it just isn’t the case.  And now that I know more I don’t even want to try that, because I know you can do more harm than good by not taking the appropriate measures to heal when you are injured and that your brain sends warning signs to your body giving signals that you’ve had enough, that you should slow down or stop.

Hello Beauties! I love colour. I adore colour! Reds, blues, pinks, and purples! Greens and turquoise - oh la la! As an artist I get to splash around with bright paint all day. I think because I am so used to colour I'm not shy to add a dash of electric purple on my eyelid or line my eye with a bright turquoise pencil. Whenever I add that punch of colour, I always get the same reaction "Oh, I wish I could wear colour!" Well ladies...I'm here to tell you, YOU CAN!

WEDDINGIt has been coming up a lot recently that most marriages will not only likely end in divorce (as I have seen often) but that many people are not even interested in the commitment entirely. I was not always of the mindset nor was it a goal of mine to get married when I was younger, not even in my early 20’s. Truly, I had other priorities but I was not against marriage – just had no clue if it would happen to me. Once I hit 30, many of my friends began making it more of priority to find “Mister Right” and take that walk down the aisle. Although I was in no way an expert on the topic, many friends came to me seeking advice on their relationships – what I always said was to make sure love all of him and not just parts, because you can’t fix a man. To recognize that things change but can you change with them and finally, remember why you fell in love. It seemed like good advice. Many of those friends are still married.

Recently I had a bit of writer's block - trying to think of a great makeup related topic to write about. I reached out to friends, my Facebook page, and clients. I received a ton of great ideas and I'm so excited to share some of them with you shortly. One that came up and really hit home with me was, "How do you talk to your daughter about makeup?"

Twenty Eight days ago, I decided to embark on a somewhat terrifying journey.  I committed myself to a month-long detox which included eliminating caffeine, refined sugar, gluten, alcohol, dairy, soy and corn.  Essentially, I very abruptly cut out foods from my life that reliably brought me comfort and pleasure.  No Starbucks. No cheesecake. No nothing (insert frown face).

There are so many terms designated to parents who are overprotective of their children.  We have been labeled controlling, “helicopter parent”, “mama bear” and a new term I just read about…the “lawnmower parent”.  As I have been reading about all these terms I realized that not only do I fall under all these categories as a mother but they also apply to me as my role of a daughter.

This is a commercial from last night's Superbowl that gave us chills. Please watch. You never know what goes on behind someone's closed doors.   If you're struggling with an abusive situation now, please call Canada Hotline: 1-800-363-9010 and Canada Abuse Directory or 1-800-799-7233 to reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline. In an emergency,...