Living

Skinny pants, colour blocking popular looks on the slopes

JUST minutes before your spouse is due to arrive home you look out the window and there, lying in the middle of the driveway, is Justin's bike

THE end of the year and the end of another good season in the garden gives us reason to be hopeful about the coming spring.

Festival of Lights: A display of 1.4 million lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 Oak St., Vancouver will take place every evening, except Christmas day until Jan. 1, 4: 30-9 p.m. Admission: $32.

HERE'S a fun twist on a more traditional Christmas decoration. These little trees are so easy to assemble and they make a striking display when grouped as a collection in different sizes and colours.

ALMOST overnight, strands of multicoloured light have transformed our streets and neighbourhoods into places of celebration and wonder. It's Christmastime and the gloom of fall has been replaced with an explosion of festive luminosity.

WHEN we all briefly wondered if the world would end last week, you were likely despondent to be missing out on my annual "Year in Review" column. Ahem . . . perhaps not. But it was a good year in eating on the North Shore.

IF, like me, you don't choose to go out to celebrate on New Year's Eve and enjoy having friends over to help you usher in another year, here's a trio of sophisticated appetizers to offer and a delicious alcohol-free cocktail for designated drivers.

NORTH SHORE FAMILIES EMBARK ON THE SANTA FLIGHT

2012 was another stressful year for investors in Canada, as the uncertain global situation continued to make headlines. This was a year where you had to work hard to earn a decent rate of return due to continued volatility and negative news.