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Articles by Liz

Baby Names!

by Liz
Parenting / May 12, 2011

Everyone loves talking about them. And when you are expecting it’s the second thing everyone asks about (right after “Do you know what it is?” my answer: “Yes, it’s a human” ha.)

Thank goodness I have absolute access to THE baby name book publisher — Sourcebooks!

I’ve been using the 2011 Baby Names Almanac for my research, but there are some many other options I think I need all of these!

Stay tuned for the upcoming Fall titles, they'll be revised to include even more possibilities, because anything goes in the baby-naming world!

These babies (ha ha.) fly off the shelves and are the perfect shower gift, so order yours now from an independent retailer, Amazon.ca, or Chapters-Indigo.ca

~ Liz

(Aside: Maybe Raincoast should run a contest to name my baby?)

My Mothers

by Liz
Events + Fashion & Textiles + Psychology & Self-Help + Spirituality + Travel / May 04, 2011

Mother’s Day is this weekend!

And here is what I’m getting the mothers in my life.

My Mom: Just retired, feeling restless, emailing and calling her daughter incessantly.

A House Somewhere: Tales of Life Abroad

Hopefully this collection of stories by some of the finest names in contemporary travel writing (Isabel Allende, Pico Iyer, Mort Rosenblum…) will take my mother to a faraway place. And obviously by that, I mean nurture her love of adventure and travel and otherwise occupy at least a few hours of her day. (Love you! Kisses!)

My Mother-In-Law: Born-again hippie who secretly indulged in watching the entire Tudors series in one weekend.

Wholeliness: Embracing the Sacred Unity that Heals Our World

This book by internationally renowned clinical psychologist Carmen Harra explains that wholeliness; the unity of humanity, the Divine, and the universe, is the nourishment we require to transcend a challenging era and foster unconditional fulfillment in our lives. Maybe this book will make her stop yelling at me when I beat her in euchre?
 

And... (because you have to stay on the mother-in-laws good side right?)

Sins of the House of Borgia

In 1492, when Ferdinand and Isabella expel the Jews from Spain, six year old Esther Sarfati finds herself travelling to Rome to join her father who has helped his fellow Spaniard, Rodrigo Borgia, finance his bid for the Papacy. Nine years later, as Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigore pays the favour by offering Esther a place in the household of his daughter, Lucrezia. And so on... (with lots of lust, betrayal and greed this is sure to be a winner!)

My Sister: New mom who is trying not to let her exhaustion ruin her sense of self.

My Mom, Style Icon

Mothers should never feel guilty about taking those extra minutes in the morning for themselves. This collection of photos from style savvy moms over the past decades should encourage my sis to break out her headscarf and rock her baby-yoga class in style. (or match her Baby Jogger with her sombrero?)

What to expect… When you are expecting at Raincoast

by Liz
Fashion & Textiles + Gift & Stationery + Health & Wellness + Humour + Kids + Parenting / April 28, 2011

When you are having a baby, and work in an office, you can expect a number of things:

- Doors will be held

- Food is always  being offered

- Co-workers will discuss upcoming business while simultaneously rubbing your belly

But when you are having a baby in an office that deals with the distribution of top publishers from every genre, you can expect the extra gift of 'how to' and 'how not to' manuals of pregnancy and parenting to pile up on your desk (it's like little stork-elves appear in the night and hide baby books around my work area)

This is what has been delivered so far:

Pregnancy Planner: Essential Advice for Moms-to-Be (Chronicle Books)

- This is a great weekly planner that gives you facts, tips and hints about what is going on every week of your pregnancy. This week's interesting tidbit: My baby's teeth are already growing!

I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper: Loving Your Marriage After the Baby Carriage (Chronicle Books)

- While I'm not ready to trade my husband in yet (thank goodness he cooks AND cleans!) this is an excellent book to keep on the bookshelf for after the babe is born and I need reminding of why I got into this whole mess in the first place.

After the Stork: The Couple's Guide to Preventing and Overcoming Postpartum Depression (New Harbinger)

- I can't really predict what will happen when our kid arrives but I can try to prepare in advance for what I can only imagine is an incredible emotional and physical upheaval. This book provides powerful tools for dealing with all the many changes that will come our way.

My Mom, Style Icon (Chronicle Books)

- Based on the awesome blog, Piper Weiss reminds us that our moms were people—young, hip, fashionable people—before we came along to monopolize their time. This book is an excellent reminder that having a baby doesn't mean I have to change who I am.

Mama's Big Book of Little Lifesavers: 398 Ways to Save Your Time, Money, and Sanity (Chronicle Books)

- As a first time parent any advice is appreciated. This book is full of hints and tips to help parents keep their sanity. Such as always carrying wipes, and if our child is messy eater don't let it stop us from eating out—just tip well! (as a former waitress I really like this one)

Fortune-Telling Book for Moms-to-Be (Chronicle Books)

- This is a fun little gift book full of ancient wisdom and old wives tales to decode everything from your baby's gender to their post-natal temperament. So far things I have learned are that tying knots during pregnancy can make labour difficult (note to self: give up macramé asap), and that I should eat avocados for a healthy and beautiful baby (but that a beautiful baby will make a homely adult... oh the dilemma...)

And I can't even get started on the baby name books we have. I'll save those for another post.

A New Book from the Originator of The Blood Type Diet Focuses on Disease Prevention

by Liz
Health & Wellness / June 22, 2010

Dr. James D'Adamo burst onto the world of natural medicine in the 1970s with his revolutionary discovery of, and approach to, healing based on a person's blood type. Written in the infancy of America's modern natural-healing movement, his first book, One Man's Food ... is someone else's poison, detailed his unique individual treatment method that correlated a person's type of blood with diet, exercise, and spiritual practice. Just An Ounce of Prevention . . . Is Worth a Pound of Cure comes almost 30 years later. Raincoast’s own health-conscious publicist Danielle recently had a chance to ask Dr. D’Adamo some questions about his most recent foray into writing and his latest research on healthy eating.